AuctionsJan 31, 2025
Elizabeth Taylor’s Diamond Bracelet Outshines Estimate at U.K. AuctionThe auction also featured the sale of a Cartier necklace made when Egyptomania was sweeping Great Britain.
SourcingApr 01, 2019
Petra’s Cullinan Mine Produces 425-Carat Diamond
In addition, the mining company that just sold that 13-carat pink has dug up a 161-carat white diamond.
The 425.10-carat Type II diamond recently found at the Cullinan Mine in South Africa, which is operated by Petra Diamonds Ltd.
London—Mining company Petra Diamonds Ltd. issued a short notice Friday that it has recovered a white diamond that weighs more than 400 carats at the historic Cullinan Mine in South Africa.
The 425.10-carat diamond is a Type II gem-quality stone that Petra will sell during the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2019, which ends June 30.
The recovery “further demonstrates the prevalence of these types of stones in the Cullinan orebody, as well as the ability of the mine’s plant to recover the full spectrum of diamonds,” the company said.
Petra operates three diamond mines in South Africa, all of which are former De Beers properties: Cullinan, Finsch and Koffiefontein. It also has an open-pit operation in Tanzania called Williamson.
A source of large, high-quality white diamonds as well as some blue diamonds, Cullinan is perhaps best known for the 1905 discovery of the 3,106-carat Cullinan Diamond, which still stands as the biggest rough diamond ever found. 
Meanwhile, in Lesotho, Gem Diamonds reported the recovery of a 161-carat Type II white diamond from the Letšeng mine on March 21, marking another significant find for the miner in 2019.
In February, the company announced the recovery of a high-quality 13.33-carat Type I pink diamond, also from Letšeng.
That stone sold last month at a tender in Antwerp to Graff Diamonds for $8.8 million, or roughly $656,441 per carat. Gem Diamonds said it was a record dollar-per-carat price for any diamond coming from Letšeng.
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