Rare Blue Diamond Found in South African Mine

  • 10 years ago
A rare blue diamond, weighing in at just under 30 carats was found recently in the Cullinan mine in South Africa, that is owned by Petra Diamonds.

A rare blue diamond, weighing in at just under 30 carats was found recently in the Cullinan mine in South Africa, that is owned by Petra Diamonds.

According to professional analyst Cailey Barker, the diamond could be worth between 15 to 20 million dollars at auction.

A 25 point 5 carat blue diamond from the same mine sold for just under 17 million dollars last year.

Chief executive of Petra Diamonds, Johan Dippenaar is quoted as saying: “By some margin ... this is probably the most significant stone we've ever, in terms of blue stones, recovered. The stones in the last year or so are selling well above $2 million per carat.”

The blue diamond is reportedly about the size of an acorn.

The mine where the blue diamond was found is also the site where the largest rough gem ever found, known as the Cullinan Diamond, was recovered in 1905.

That stone originally weighed just over 31 hundred carats, but was cut into two pieces called the First and Second Star of Africa that are now part of the British Crown Jewels collection.