Zimbabwe holds diamond auction for 316 000 ct

Zimbabwe’s State-owned Minerals Marketing Corporation opened a 316 000 ct diamond auction, which will close at the end of the week, an official said.

“This is the third auction we have conducted this year as there were some administrative issues which were taking place within the organization," MMCZ’s GM Tongai Muzenda said by phone on Wednesday. The last auction was held in July, he said.

The auction, which began on September 9 and will close on September 13, has attracted buying interest from Belgium, Dubai, India, Israel and South Africa, but Muzenda declined to name the companies bidding, citing confidentiality.

Zimbabwe expects to produce 4.1-million carats of diamonds this year, up from 2.8 ct in 2018. At the peak of production in 2012, the Southern African country’s output was 12-million carats.