Botswana’s Okavango Diamond Company (ODC), which is owned by the state, has announced that its sales have increased 9% to $309 million in the first half of 2017.
According to Deputy Managing Director Marcus ter Haar, quoted in Mining Weekly, the increase in diamond sales is attributed to improved demand. He added that the company sold “1.8 million carats in five auctions held since January”, and that the “volumes of carats sold were 3% higher than the same period in 2016”.
According to Mining Weekly, ODC plans to hold ten tenders by year’s end. The company sells 15% of the output of Debswana, a joint venture between De Beers and Botswana, “which is targeting production of 20.5 million carats this year”.
