TAGS’ achieves $15.4 m from the sale of specials from Angola  

Trans Atlantic Gem Sales (TAGS) achieved over $15.4m from the sale of 34 specials from Angola at its first rough tender of the year. The rough diamonds sold for well above their reserve price.The rough diamonds which TAGS presented were goods for Sodiam, Angola’s national diamond trading company. TAGS offered a total of 1,448.37 carats. There were 36 stones in total, all over 10 carats, and seven over 60 carats. All but two were sold.

The highlights were two Type IIa diamonds from Lulo, the Luacapa-owned mine, weighing 93 carats and 78 carats, that sold for a total of $3.5m, which is approximately $20,400 per carat. “Prices were well more than reserve price, yet again underpinning the strength of our association with Sodiam, and the benefit of a competitive and transparent tender system,” said TAGS.

Goods were sold from seven Angolan mines – Tchegi, Lulo, Somiluana, Kaixepa, Chitotolo, Catoca, and Luele and representatives of 41 companies attended. TAGS, founded in 2017, announced last month that it would be expanding its operations, with the opening of another tender house in Johannesburg.