Diamond company Namakwa conducted a tender last week of rough diamonds it mined in southern Africa and raked in a healthy $1.7 million, Diamond Intelligence reports. Namakwa sold 3,163 carats of diamonds at the tender, which came out to an average per-carat price of $537. The average size of stones sold at auction was just under half a carat.

Most of Namakwa's diamond mining activity takes place in Lesotho at its Kao concession, and it holds assets off the shores of Namibia as well, but last week's tender consisted of rough diamonds mined at its subsidiary mines in South Africa.

Namakwa chief executive office Theo Botoulas expressed satisfaction at the stable performance of its South African mines, noting that they make up an important part of the firm's revenue stream, according to Diamond Intelligence.