A 170-carat pink diamond found in Angola may be the largest such gem discovered in 300 years, according to Australian miner Lucapa Diamond Company.
Dubbed the “Lulo Rose,” the diamond was discovered at the Lulo alluvial diamond mine in the Lunda Norte region of Angola in Africa, the company said in a statement on Wednesday, along with its partners, state-owned mining company Endiama and Rosas & Petalas, a private Angolan company.
Angola’s mines are among the ten largest diamond producers in the world, according to the Gemological Institute of America, which studies diamond production. In alluvial diamond mining, the stones are extracted from gravel and sand found in riverbeds.
Only one in 10,000 diamonds discovered is colored, according to Stephen Weatherall, managing director of Lucapa Diamond Company.
“And only one in 100 diamonds is larger than 10.8 carats, so the recovery of a 170-carat pink diamond means we’re dealing with an extremely rare piece,” Weatherall told CNN.
“We’ve found pink diamonds before, but finding one of this size is extremely rare,” he said.
“Lulo Rose” is still being appraised to determine its approximate price before it is auctioned. Credit: Lucapa Diamond Company
The pink gem is expected to be auctioned by Angola’s state-owned diamond marketing company Sodiam. Wetherall declined to give an estimate of its value because the diamond is still being examined and appraised.
The Angolan government also hailed the “historic” recovery of the gem.
“The record-breaking and spectacular pink diamond recovered from Lulo continues to showcase 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,” said Diamantino Azevedo, Minister of the Angolan issues. mineral resources, oil and gas.
Large colored diamonds have fetched record high prices at auction in recent years. Last April, De Beers’ 15.10-carat “Cullinan Blue” diamond sold for $57.5 million at a Sotheby’s auction in Hong Kong. It narrowly missed out on the record set by the 14.62-carat “Oppenheimer Blue” diamond, which fetched just over an additional $70,000 when it sold in 2016.
Angola’s largest diamond, dubbed the “February 4th Stone,” was recovered from the Lulo mine in February 2016, according to Lucapa. The 404.2-carat stone sold for $16 million.
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