HARARE, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- Zimbabwe says it intends to auction between 400,000 and 500,000 carats of diamonds before the end of 2019.
This follows another auction two weeks ago, the third in 2019, in which the Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe (MMCZ) sold 316,000 carats, whose value is yet to be established as figures are still being reconciled.
Prior to the last sale, Zimbabwe had in June invited seven international buyers to participate in a private sale of nearly two million carats.
The Herald newspaper reported Wednesday that MMCZ general manager Tongai Muzenda had said that the corporation expected better returns in the short-term on account of the level of pricing systems that would prevail in the market.
"We are looking forward to conducting another diamond auction where we are targeting to sell between 400,000 and 500,000 carats by the end of November," he said.
Zimbabwe expects to produce 4.1 million carats of diamonds this year, up from 2.8 million carats last year. At the peak of production in 2012, output was 12 million carats.
