JOHANNESBURG — A large 170-carat pink diamond has been discovered in Angola and is said to be the largest such gem discovered in 300 years.
Named “Lulo Rose,” the diamond was found in the Lulo alluvial diamond mine, the mine’s owner, Lucapa Diamond Company, said Wednesday on its website.
“Only one in 10,000 diamonds is colored pink. So you’re certainly looking at a very rare item when you find a very large pink diamond,” Lucapa CEO Stephen Weatherle told The Associated Press.
The pink gem is expected to fetch a high price when it is auctioned, but Wetherall said he did not know what premium would be paid for its color.
Lulo is an alluvial mine, meaning the stones are mined from the river bed. Lucapa is looking for underground deposits known as kimberlite pipes that would be the main source of diamonds, Wetherall said, speaking from the company’s headquarters in Australia.
“We’re looking for the kimberlite pipes that brought these diamonds to the surface,” Weatherall said. “When you find these large, high-value diamonds … it certainly adds to the excitement from our perspective in the search for the primary source. “
About 400 employees are employed at the Lulo mine, which has already produced the two largest diamonds ever found in Angola, including a 404-carat clear diamond, he said.
The pink gem is the fifth largest diamond found at the mine, which has found 27 diamonds of 100 carats or more, according to Lucappa.
The pink diamond will be sold through an international auction by Angola’s state-owned diamond marketing company Sodiam. Angola’s mines make it one of the top 10 diamond producers in the world.
“This record and spectacular pink diamond recovered from Lulo continues to demonstrate Angola as an important player on the global diamond mining stage and demonstrates the potential and rewards for commitment and investment in our growing diamond mining industry,” Diamantino Azevedo, Minister of Minerals of Angola Resources, Petroleum and Gas said, according to the Lucapa website.
A pink diamond is an impressive size, but many clear diamonds are larger than 1,000 carats. The Cullinan diamond, discovered in South Africa in 1905, tips the scales at 3,106 carats and is in the scepter of the British sovereign.
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