Namakwa Diamonds sold 17,502 carats of rough diamonds for a total of $6.14 million in February 2011 – an average per-carat price of $360.08, the company announced this week.

An even higher per-carat price of $700 was realized for a number of diamonds mined at the company's South African mines, whose production Namakwa hopes to see increase to 55,000-65,000 carats annually.

The company also reported that 5,617 carats of rough diamonds recovered from its mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo sold for an average per-carat price of $224.89, a significant increase over the $175/carat price fetched in November 2010.

Moreover, Namakwa noted a recent increase in size and quality in the diamonds recovered from its DRC mines, one of which weighed 37 carats – the largest diamond yielded to date by the company's mines in that country.