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Petra’s big blue diamond goes for $25M
Petra Diamonds announced Friday that it has sold the 29.6-carat rough blue diamond it uncovered at the Cullinan mine in South Africa last month.
South African company Golden Yellow Diamonds purchased Petra Diamonds’ 29.6-carat blue diamond on Friday for $25.6 million, or $862,780 per carat. Petra described the stone, which was found last month, as “exceptional.”
London--Petra Diamonds announced Friday that it has sold the 29.6-carat rough blue diamond it uncovered at the Cullinan mine in South Africa last month.
South African company Golden Yellow Diamonds for Cora International NY purchased the stone for $25.6 million, or $862,780 per carat.
When the stone was unearthed in January, Petra described it as “exceptional,” noting that it is an outstanding vivid blue with extraordinary saturation, tone and clarity.
“This sale result affirms this stone as one of the most important blue diamonds ever recovered,” Petra CEO Johan Dippenaar said. “An additional allure is the diamond’s heritage from the Cullinan mine in South Africa, which is well known as the source of many of the world’s most spectacular diamonds, including the two main diamonds in the British Crown Jewels, and which is the world’s most important source of very rare blue diamonds.”
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Since Petra acquired the Cullinan mine in June 2008, the company has uncovered four notable, large blue diamonds, three of which sold for more than $8 million.
The highest grossing of these was a 25.5-carat blue that sold for $16.9 million last year, as well as a 26.6-carat piece of blue rough that sold for $9.5 million in 2009, and a 39.9-carat diamond that sold for $8.8 million in 2008.
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London-based Petra Diamonds has interest in six producing mines, five in South Africa--the Finsch, Koffiefontein, Kimberley Underground, Helam, and Cullinan--and the Williamson mine in Tanzania.
The company also has an exploration program in Botswana.
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