Zimbabwe Tender Only $45 million?

As Zimbabwe auctioned some 900,000 carats of rough diamonds earlier this month many traders in the market wanted to know for how much the goods sold for. Contrary to earlier estimates, it now seems that the goods sold for about $50 per carat.

On the day of the auction, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai that said the goods are worth $72 million. The estimate seemed high, giving the goods an average value of $82 p/c when the country’s goods are estimated to be worth about $35-$50 p/c.

Over the weekend, the country’s Finance Minister Tendai Biti said the auction fetched $45 million, or an average value of about $50 p/c.

Biti, quoted by the Zimbabwe Independent, disclosed the number when explaining the country’s income from the auction.

According to Biti, the government earned $15 million: 10 percent royalties and 25 percent corporate tax on profits. The government will also earn dividends from the state-run Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC).

As previously reported by IDEX Online, most of the goods sold at the August 11 auction were bought by Indian diamond firms.