The world’s diamond mining is concentrated in the major primary deposits accounting for about 60% of the global diamond production. The remaining production is concentrated in placer deposits, the principal of them located in the DRC (Mbiji-Mayii) and Zimbabwe (Marange).
By their attributes diamonds from deposits fall into two categories: gem quality and industrial grade diamonds. The former is used in diamond jewelry production, while the latter is used for industrial purposes (manufacture of drills, saws, and abrasive powders). Gem quality rough diamonds are sorted by size, color, quality and shape, and then are sold to buyers in conformity with the sales policy adopted in a rough diamond production company. Depending on the quality of the mined rough diamonds, the current state of the market, the adopted marketing policy, companies use different approaches to diamond sales: sights, tenders, auctions, spot transactions and long-term contracts.
The world’s largest trading centers, which concentrate the bulk of trade in natural rough diamonds, are India, Belgium, the UAE, the USA, Hong Kong and Israel. Being sold from mines, natural rough diamonds arrive at cutting and polishing plants to become polished diamonds that will be used in jewelry making.