(IDEX Online) - Alrosa sold $10m of rough at its first 2020 auction of special-size stones.The Russian state-owned miner described demand as "stable", although almost 20 per cent of lots weren't sold.It said it had buyers for 104 stones, all over 10.8 carats, with a combined weight of over 1,500 carats.Last week Alrosa reported total rough and polished sales of $430m for January, up six per cent year-on-year as demand firmed, especially in China and the USA.The company is legally required to auction all rough stones over 10.8 carats.The sale, which took place in Dubai from January 19 to February 9, attracted 39 buyers from Belgium, India, Israel, UAE and the US."Demand for our rough began to recover late last year and now remains stable. We sold over 80 per cent of auctioned lots and proceeds were good," said Evgeny Agureev, Alrosa's deputy CEO.Generic pic shows Alrosa rough