37 carat Pink Diamond Up for Sale

Raj Pink diamond

Sotheby’s Auctioneers announced  the upcoming  auction of the Raj Pink diamond.

Weighing 37.30 carats the Pink diamond is the largest Fancy Intense Pink Diamond, according to Sotheby’s.

The Pink Diamond will feature at the auction house’s Magnificent Jewels in Geneva next month, and is estimated to fetch $20 million to $30 million USD.

The Original Rough Diamond was studied for over a year before the master cutter finished the polished Raj Pink Modified Cushion Brilliant cut

 

 

Petra Diamonds shares drop

Petra Diamond mine

More trouble for diamond miner Petra Diamonds  yesterday after it warned it is heading into financial trouble with its lenders.

Petra has borrowed heavily to expand its operations in the country. The company is now likely to breach its banking covenants at the end of the year, because of the row with the government in Tanzania. As well as strikes at three of its mines in South Africa.

Petra diamonds is known for the size and quality of the diamonds produced at the famous Cullinan mine outside of Pretoria in South Africa.

 

13 Carat Diamond Sold By Merlin

13 Carat Merlin Diamond Mine

Merlin Diamonds has a sold a rough white diamond for $157,880, or $11,898 per carat. The Rough Diamond was recovered at its mine in Northern Australia.

The Rough Diamond weighing 13.27 carats is of Gem quality and has D colour, in a statement by Merlin mine.

Merlin Diamond mine in Australia was acquired from Rio Tinto in 2004.

163ct D Flawless Diamond to be Auctioned at Christie’s

163ct. D Flawless Diamond at Christie’sAuction

The emerald cut diamond weighing  163.41 carats will be the largest D colour  flawless diamond to appear at an auction.

The 404.20 carat “4 de Fevereiro,” alluvial rough diamond that Lucapa Diamond Company recovered is the largest rough diamond in history originating from Angola.

The Rough Diamond was recovered at Lulo mine in Angola in February 2016, and sold for $16 million USD later that month by Lucapa.

The auction will take place on November 14, in Geneva at the Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues .

Graff pays $53m for historic diamond

1,109 carat Lesedi La Rona rough Diamond

Laurence Graff of Graff Jewellers has purchased the 1,109 carat Lesedi La Rona rough Diamond.

Discovered by Canadian mining company Lucara Diamond Corp at the Botswana mine.

The diamond sold for USD $53 million.

The 1,109 gem is the world’s largest High quality rough diamond to be discovered in more than a century and the largest rough diamond in existence today.

Second only to the Cullinan which weighed 3,106.75 carats, and was discovered at the Premier No. 2 mine in , South Africa, on 26 January 1905.

Young Rough Diamonds Discovered

diamond garnet inclusion

Geologists have discovered  what they refer to as young diamonds, after analyzing a number of rough diamonds.

It now appears the creation of rough diamonds, may have occurred  later in the Earth’s history than was previously thought. Diamond  requires extreme temperatures and pressures to form. Geologists though these conditions only existed in the early formation of Earth.

Small impurities in the diamonds could indicate the conditions in which they are formed. So 26 diamonds donated by the De Beers Group where analyzed by a research team in Amsterdam.

Sm-Nd isotope techniques are used by researchers to analyzed the sampled garnet inclusions, Which are a common mineral found in Earth’s mantle and sometimes within the diamonds.

The scientists discovered two sets of diamonds, one of Archaean age 2.95 billion years old thought to be the original source of the diamonds. And then surprisingly the  other of Proterozoic age 1.15 billion years old.

Alrosa Russian Diamond Miner Recovers 27.85 carat pink diamond

Alrosa’s 27.85 carat pink diamond

Exceptional Large Pink Diamond Discovered in Russia Could Be Most Expensive ever by Alrosa

The Miner recovered the 27.85 Carat Pink Rough Diamond at its alluvial mines in Russia’s Far East.
The Largest pink diamond it had previously found was less than 4 carats in weight.

Alrosa Diamond Mining is examining the rough and will decide on whether to sell it as a rough diamond, or cut and polish it in house.

The Rough Diamond is high quality and could make it  Alrosa’s most expensive diamond if it decides to cut and polished the stone.

Chief Executive Officer Sergey Ivanov said Alrosa has mainly focused on rough diamond mining, will increase revenues from its polishing unit.

Botswana Wants Option to Buy Unusually Big Diamonds

1107 carat Rough Diamond

The world’s second largest 1,109 carat rough diamond discovered two years ago, has prompted the Botswana  government to amend the law giving it first option to buy unusually large diamonds.

Botswana’s success has been due to the rough diamond mines.

An official told a local newspaper that it referred to stones that were unusually large, were particularly clear or had a rare colour.

The price will agreed between the government and the producer, both parties with the current market price of the rough stones.

 

Petra Diamonds suspends operations at its Tanzania mine

Williamson Diamond Mine Tanzania

The Tanzanian governments confrontational approach to miners operating in the country including  Petra Diamonds, has led to Petra suspending operations at its mine.

The Tanzanian government seized a shipment of rough diamonds belonging to Petra. They also question and held a number of staff in the latest assault on the African country’s mining sector.

This includes the concentrate exports ban and the non repayment of value added tax.