(IDEX Online) - De Beers sold $470m (provisional) of rough at Sight 5, which has just ended in Gabarone, halting a four-month slide in sales.In a statement released today the miner said sentiment was "increasingly optimistic", despite ongoing Covid concerns.Sales at its fourth sight of 2021 were $385m, the lowest this year. Sales in January peaked at $663m, a three-year-high. They fell to $550m in February and again to $450m in March.Combined sales for Sights 4 and 5 last year, in the depths of the pandemic, were $56m.De Beers reportedly raised prices of larger stones (over two carats) by as much as 10 per cent at Sight 5, after several price increases earlier in the year.It has maintained its more flexible approach to rough diamond sales because of ongoing travel restrictions and extended Sight 5 beyond its usual week.Bruce Cleaver, De Beers Group CEO, said: "With demand for diamond jewellery in the key consumer markets of the US and China continuing to be positive, and midstream capacity in India returning, we have seen strong demand for rough diamonds during the fifth sales cycle."Pic shows rough diamond being analyzed at De Beers