BlueRock Offloads Rough in Private Sale

RAPAPORT... BlueRock Diamonds has sold a parcel of rough for $700,000 in a private sale, noting that the average realized price was approximately 15% below pre-pandemic levels.The miner sold 2,400 carats from its Kareevlei mine in South Africa at an average price of $290 per carat, the miner said Monday. In the fourth quarter of 2019, the company's rough garnered an average price of $410 per carat, although some of that rough was from a higher-value portion of the mine. "This sale at a time when the traditional sales channels for diamonds remain closed, and at a price which we estimate to be at current market value for that particular parcel of diamonds, is an excellent result in a highly uncertain market," said BlueRock executive chairman Mike Houston. "We hope [the average price] represents the bottom of the market."The company has also signed a deal with diamond brokerage Bonas-Couzyn to sell its rough in Antwerp. It expects to begin those sales in September. Image: Rough diamonds from Kareevlei. (BlueRock Diamonds)