South American Miners Boost Diamond Sales By 155%

A diamond company operating in Latin American reported that during the three months between April and June 2013 it sold 155% more rough diamonds than it had in the previous three-month period, Diamond Intelligence reports. Mineracao Duas Barras, a subsidiary of Brazil Minerals, announced that while it sold 354 carats of rough during the first quarter of the 2013 calendar year, it boosted that figure to 902.10 carats for the second quarter. The average price of the gems sold was only negligibly different from quarter to quarter.

Dusa Barras chair and chief executive officer Marc Forgassa said that he believes that this upward trend will continue into the next quarter, on account of operational increases. A new barge operation was introduced only last month, so its effects were only felt for a portion of the quarter. Additionally, the barge operation is now being optimized, so its production levels should increase in the months to come, according to Diamond Intelligence.

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