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A large rare pink diamond that was found in Angola is believed to be the largest in over 300 years.
The diamond, which has been named ‘Lulo Rose’ was found at the Lulo Alluvial Diamond Mine in Angola. Interestingly, it is on record that the two largest diamonds ever found in Angola were discovered in that mine.
Lulo Rose is a 170-carat pink diamond found in the mine located in Angola’s Lula Norte region. The news of the discovery was shared by the owners of the mine – the Lucapa Diamond Company, on their official website and social media handles.
“Only one in 10,000 diamonds is coloured pink. So you’re certainly looking at a very rare article when you find a very large pink diamond,” Lucapa CEO Stephen Wetherall told reporters of The Associated Press news agency.
According to reports, the pink gemstone is expected to fetch a high value when auctioned, but Wetherall said he did not know what kind of premium would be paid because of its colour.
Lulo is an alluvial mine which means the stones are recovered from a riverbed. Lucapa is searching for the underground deposits, known as kimberlite pipes, which would be the primary source of the diamonds, said Wetherall, speaking from the company’s headquarters in Australia.
“We’re looking for the kimberlite pipes that brought these diamonds to the surface,” Wetherall said. “When you find these high-value large diamonds … it certainly elevates the excitement from our perspective in our hunt for the primary source.”
He said there are about 400 employees at the mine, which has already produced the two largest diamonds ever found in Angola, including a 404-carat clear diamond.
The pink gemstone is the fifth largest diamond found at the mine, where 27 diamonds of 100 carats or more have been found, according to Lucapa.
The pink diamond will be sold by international tender by the Angolan state diamond marketing company, Sodiam.
Angola’s mines make it one of the world’s top 10 producers of diamonds.
“This record and spectacular pink diamond recovered from Lulo continues to showcase Angola as an important player on the world stage for diamond mining and demonstrates the potential and rewards for commitment and investment in our growing diamond mining industry,” Diamantino Azevedo, Angola’s minister of mineral resources, petroleum and gas, said, according to the Lucapa website.
The pink diamond is impressive, but many clear diamonds are larger than 1,000 carats.
The Cullinan diamond found in South Africa in 1905 tips the scales at 3,106 carats, and is in the British Sovereign’s Scepter.
SOURCE: THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
