Rare Blue Diamond
found in South Africa's Cullinan mine
The
"exceptional" 29.6 carat blue diamond is the latest rare stone to be
found in the Cullinan mine
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A rare blue diamond has been discovered in a
mine in South Africa.
The 29.6-carat stone was recovered by Petra
Diamonds at its Cullinan mine, about 40km (25 miles) north-east of Pretoria.
"This stone is one of the most exceptional
stones recovered at Cullinan during Petra's operation of the mine," the
company said.
Petra unearthed a 25.5 carat blue diamond
which sold for $16.9m (£10.3m) in 2013.
'Class
of its own'
The latest discovery is also expected to sell
for a high price.
The Cullinan mine is
famed for the production of blue diamonds
"The stone is an outstanding vivid blue
with extraordinary saturation, tone and clarity, and has the potential to yield
a polished stone of great value and importance," Petra said in a statement
on Tuesday.
Cullinan mine has produced hundreds of large
stones and is famed for its production of blue diamonds - among the rarest and
most highly coveted of all diamonds.
The mine was acquired in 2008 by Petra
Diamonds, which also operates in Botswana and Tanzania.
A similar 26.6-carat blue rough diamond
discovered by the company in May 2009 was cut into a near perfect stone and
fetched just under $10m at a Sotheby's auction.
Another deep-blue diamond from Cullinan was
auctioned for $10.8m in 2012 and set a world record for the value per carat.
The largest ever rough gem diamond was
discovered at the Cullinan mine in 1905 and was presented to the British
monarch Edward VII.
The 3,106-carat stone was then cut, with two
of the principal diamonds forming part of the British crown jewels - the
530-carat First Star of Africa and the Second Star of Africa at 317 carats.
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