A 78-carat diamond recovered by BHP Billiton at the Ekati mine in Canada, sold for over $6 million at an auction held on February 14th, according to diamond industry sources.

The highest value stone ever recovered at Ekati, named EKATI Spirit, attracted strong interest, with buyers from around the world bidding on the stone, market sources said.



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In a statement, BHP Billiton said it used a hybrid auction system for the first time combining features of two auction platforms it has used in the past.

BHP Billiton introduced the ‘Uniform Price Auction’ methodology for its spot market sales of 7 carats and up in size in November 2007. In June 2008, it rolled out the ‘Ascending Clock Auction’ methodology for BHP Billiton's so-called term market auctions for larger and specials stones in June 2008.

“Uniform price and ascending auction methodologies provide a fair, competitive and transparent way for diamond companies to buy rough diamonds from BHP Billiton and an objective and transparent basis for establishing the market price of those diamonds,” BHP Billiton said in a statement.