A 342.92 carat Type IIa white diamond “of high quality in terms of both color and clarity” was discovered at the old Cullinan mine in Gauteng.
The same mining business sold a rare blue diamond from the Cullinan mine for $40.2 million (R595 million) in mid-July.
Petra Diamonds, based in the United Kingdom, announced its third significant finding at the Cullinan mine in 2021.
With underground operations in South Africa at Finsch, Cullinan, and Koffiefontein, as well as one open pit mine in Tanzania, the mining corporation is on a roll.
De Beers sold the Cullinan mine to Petra in 2008 for R1 billion. The mine is most renowned for producing the world’s largest diamond, the 3,106.75-carat Cullinan Diamond, which now graces the Crown Jewels.
Since then, the Cullinan mine has produced at least eight large diamonds worth a total of $207 million to Petra (R3 billion).
Petra recently set a record when it sold a 39.34 carat Type IIb blue diamond recovered in April for the highest price paid for a single stone recovered and sold by the company.
The uncut 29-carat Blue Moon of Josephine, also from the Cullinan mine, set the highest price-per-carat record in 2014, selling for $25.6 million (R380 million).
Petra announced on Wednesday that it had discovered another remarkable diamond from the Cullinan mine, less than two weeks after selling its rare blue diamond to a De Beers-Diacore collaboration.
This find is more than eight times the carat weight of the world’s largest blue diamond.
Despite being significantly larger than the blue diamond sold to De Beers, this recently discovered white diamond is not as uncommon.
In January, Petra unearthed a comparable 299.3-carat Type IIa white diamond at the Cullinan mine, which sold for $12.18. (R180 million).
Type II diamonds, on the other hand, have no nitrogen “impurities,” are rarer, larger, and harder than type I diamonds, and account for only 1% to 2% of all natural diamonds.
As a result, the recovery of the Type IIa white diamond represents an equally astonishing, albeit less valuable, find.
Blue diamonds, which get their color from boron impurities, are among the most precious stones in the world. According to Petra, the uncut Type IIa white diamond will be available for purchase in September.
