Zimbabwe’s Secretary for Mines Thankful Musukutwa has confirmed to news outlets that the country auctioned off diamonds from the controversial Marange diamond fields this past weekend, but did not provide any information on the number of stones sold or their worth.

Musukutwa told AFP that the government would not be releasing the sales data since the transactions took place between private companies.

"No other country in the world releases their sales figures or quantities,” the minister continued.



“When it comes to the issues of diamonds we must be careful as a country because of the sensitivity of the issues associated with them."

The hitherto unpublicized auction marks the last sale of Zimbabwe diamonds until the Kimberley Process can ascertain that the human rights abuses perpetrated in the Marange diamond fields by security forces have come to an end.

According to the Zimbabwe government, the diamond fields are not under military control any longer, and mining operations have been contracted to the Mbada Diamonds and Canadile Miners mining companies, both based in South Africa. Another mining operator with connections to a Chinese company has also been granted permission to work the Marange fields.

None of the mining companies commented on this weekend’s diamond auction.