DFI’s Marine Mining Yield Rises, Average Prices Up 21% (April...

DFI’s Marine Mining Yield Rises, Average Prices Up 21%

(April 29, '08, 3:15 IDEX Online Staff Reporter)

Diamond Fields International (DFI) announced Monday that it sold a total of 1,958.19 carats at its most recent rough diamond sales for an average price of $258.36 per carat, a 21 percent increase over the previous year’s average sale price of $213 per carat.



A total of 2,763.28 carats were recovered by DFI during the month of March, the company’s best month since May 2007, DFI stated in a release. Total carats recovered to the end of the first quarter of 2008 came to 5,882.74; of this, 15,626 stones were gem quality, with an average weight of 0.38 carats per stone.



Commenting on the results, DFI CEO Wayne Malouf credited “the significant improvement in ship availability, a prerequisite in our program to make the marine operation more efficient.” Most of the diamonds were mined at DFI’s marine operations which were recently overhauled.