RAPAPORT... Namakwa Diamonds closed its third sale of Kao rough diamonds in Antwerp, its eighth auction to date conducted by Fusion Alternatives, the tender partner of I Hennig & Co. All 51 lots offered, totaling 14,495 carats, were sold at an average price of $286 per carat, with an average diamond size of 0.36 carats. The largest diamond sold was 32.38 carats at $2,577 per carat. The sale realized approximately $4.2 million, with prices achieving about 3 percent above initial estimates, according to Namakwa. The diamonds sold were sourced predominately from hard rock kimberlite ore. Theo Botoulas, the chief executive of Namakwa Diamonds, said, ''Our third tender in Antwerp, like the first two, achieved a 100 percent sell-through rate and prices were ahead of expectations, even in today’s challenging markets. Since January 2012, we have now sold a total of 87,011 carats from Kao mine production in eight tenders, generating $24.6 million in revenues for the company.''
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