The auction offered 7,894 carats and 15 of the 21 bidders acquired stones.
Gokhran sold 5,042 carats of diamonds for $2.4 million at an auction in July for special-sized rough diamonds (larger than 10.8 carats in size), the Russian state repository told Interfax. The auction offered 7,894 carats and 15 of the 21 bidders acquired stones.
Gokhran sells diamonds only if a bid exceeds the threshold appraisal, which is kept confidential. Therefore, the starting appraisal of diamonds at auction is not disclosed. The auctions are open only to Russian diamond cutters, Rapaport reported .
Revenue from diamond sales have been more substantial in recent years. In 2014, Gokhran sold 8,000 carats of diamonds for $15 million at one of two auctions; the results of the second auction were unknown. In 2013, Gokhran sold 15,300 carats of diamonds for $25.4 million at two auctions .
The results of the latest auction could be due to the significantly weaker demand for diamonds this year as well as the sale of poorer-quality stones. Gokhran considers the results good. "About two thirds of the offered stones were sold," a spokesman said. Gokhran plans to hold one more auction for rough diamonds this year, although it has not yet made a final decision, he said .
Gokhran is targeting sales of precious metals and precious stones at $104.2 million (RUB 6.15 billion) in 2015. Last year the budget target was $202.5 million (RUB 11.95 billion). After the depletion of palladium stock at the state repository, rough diamonds have become the main item sold by Gokhran.
