Around 8,500 carats of rough diamonds from Mothae kimberlite in Lesotho will be up for auction between March 21 – 28, in Antwerp. The diamonds were produced from bulk sampling and trial mining at the mine.

The sale is being organised by Mothae Diamonds, a subsidiary of Lucara Diamond, and will be its very first diamond sale. The company looks at the event as ‘an important milestone’ for the Mothae project, by delivering the first true price discovery for Mothae production and provide inputs to ‘understand the economic drivers for Mothae’.

The format of the sale has been decided to be as sealed tender in terms of an agency agreement between Mothae and A.G.M. Diamond Expertise. It will be held at the offices of Bonas-Couzyn N.V. The government of Lesotho, a Mothae partner will be paid a 4 percent royalty from the sale proceeds.