De Beers will begin auctioning rough diamonds from other mining companies to provide a broader range of goods.
The company will pilot the new program this year, making it easier for customers to buy their entire supply in one place, Neil Ventura, De Beers executive vice president of auction sales, said on Monday.
“One message that’s come through from our recent customer engagements is a desire for us to develop our supply offering in certain areas, so that there is a fuller and broader range of material available for purchase,” Ventura said.
“Based on this customer feedback, in 2018 we will be testing the potential to grow our core rough-diamond sales business through making some purchases from third-party sources,” he added.
The diamonds will come from miners which De Beers has carried out due diligence, and will only be a small minority of the goods De Beers offers.