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Alrosa Digs Up a 207-Carat Diamond
The rough diamond is the largest gem-quality stone found at the Zarnitsa pipeline, which was the first diamond deposit discovered in Russia.
The rough diamond is the largest gem-quality stone to be discovered at the Zarnitsa pipeline, which was found in the mid-1950s but not mined until the late ‘90s.
Udachny, Russia--Alrosa announced Tuesday the discovery of a 207.29-carat diamond from the Zarnitsa pipe at the Udachny Mining and Processing Division, a mining operation located not too far from the Arctic Circle.
The yet-to-be named rough diamond is the largest to ever be extracted from Zarnitsa.
Found in 1954, the Zarnitsa pipe was the first major diamond deposit discovered in Russia, though mining operations didn’t begin there until 1998, as the larger, neighboring Udachnaya pipe was easier to access.
“The modern mining and processing technologies ensure a high degree of diamond preservation,” said Gleb Shmarov, the chief geologist of Udachny’s mining and processing division.
A total of 7.49 million carats of reserve have been identified at Zarnitsa.
In the first quarter of this year, as mining operations have increased, diamond output has more than doubled as compared with Q1 2015, keeping up with Alrosa’s overall growth.
The 207.29-carat rough diamond found by Alrosa is the latest in a string of big diamond finds worldwide, including a few by the Russian mining company.
In February they announced the discovery of an 84-carat diamond, subsequently named “Mothers of Russia”, and in December Alrosa recovered a 105-carat diamond. Both stones were from the Jubilee pipe, which has become famous for the large diamonds it yields.
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