(Ecofin Agency) - De Beers Consolidated Mine, branch of Anglo American, announced it has totaled for its seventh cycle of rough diamond sales $630 million, thus beating sixth cycle’s $520 million. Over the seven sales cycles, the firm collected $4.19 billion.

“We saw healthy demand for our rough diamonds in Cycle 7, as manufacturers brought forward some of their demand in order to cut and polish rough diamonds in time for the important retail selling season,” said Bruce Cleaver, CEO of De Beers.

De Beers Consolidated Mine is the world’s largest diamond firm. It provides a third of the world’s rough diamonds production and employs more than 20,000 people. Its parent-company, Anglo American, is the 27^th largest mining firm worldwide, PwC’s latest report shows.

Louis-Nino Kansoun