Petra Diamonds reported a decline in rough diamond prices at its latest combined tender, reflecting a shift toward smaller, lower-quality goods and ongoing challenges at its Cullinan mine in South Africa.
The miner generated $53 million from the sale of 613,747 carats during its combined fifth and sixth trading sessions, which took place partially in April and concluded in June, the company announced Monday.
While like-for-like prices rose 3% across most product categories compared to the fourth tender in February, the overall average price fell to $86 per carat—down from $127 per carat at the same tender sessions last year.
The higher sales value compared to February’s $39 million was driven by a greater volume of goods on offer.
However, revenue was still 43% lower than during the equivalent tenders in 2024. Sales volume increased 29% from February but was down 16% year over year.
The decline in average price was largely attributed to a weaker product mix. Petra’s Cullinan mine, particularly the C-Cut portion of the deposit, is nearing the end of its productive life.
As a result, fewer gem-quality stones—especially those over 10.8 carats—were recovered, impacting the overall quality of the offering. Additionally, subdued global demand placed further pressure on prices.
The latest tender also included 84,479 carats from the Williamson mine in Tanzania, which contributed $14 million.
These goods represented the final rough stock remaining after Petra completed the sale of the Williamson asset earlier this year.
For the first six tenders of 2025, Petra reported total revenue of $239 million—a 27% decline year on year.
Sales volume dropped 15% to 2.4 million carats, while the average price fell 14% to $100 per carat. Like-for-like rough prices across the six tenders were down 16% compared to the same period in 2024.
Due to ongoing volatility in diamond pricing and demand, Petra announced it will no longer publish reports on individual tenders.
The company noted that it may shift away from a regular tender schedule, with future sales potentially postponed or conducted on a run-of-mine basis to adapt to market conditions.
