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SourcingSep 29, 2016
Angolan Mine Yields Another 100-Carat-Plus Diamond
Just a week after Lucapa turned up a 104-carat diamond at its Lulo project, an even bigger stone has emerged.
This picture provided by Lucapa Diamond Company shows the 172.67-carat, D color, Type IIa rough diamond prior to its acid bath.
Lucapa, Angola--Just a week after Lucapa Diamond Company turned up a 104-carat diamond at its Lulo project, an even bigger stone has emerged.
The mining company, which is based in Australia but mines in Angola, unearthed a 172.67-carat D color diamond from its Lulo Diamond Project.
The stone was among the latest “specials,” meaning diamonds that weigh more than 10.8 carats, recovered from ongoing alluvial diamond mining operations at the site.
Testing on a Yehuda colorimeter confirmed that the diamond is Type IIa, meaning it contains little or no nitrogen and, thereby, is very pure and very rare.
Lucapa said the nearly 173-carat stone is the fifth diamond weighing 100 carats or larger to be recovered from Lulo in 2016 and the sixth overall.
Other exceptional diamonds recovered from this mine this year include, but are not limited to, the following:
--The 104-carat diamond, the recovery of which was announced last week;
--A 38.6-carat pink diamond found earlier this month;
--The 404.2-carat diamond found in February that sold for $16 million and remains the largest diamond ever reported as being found in Angola; and
--The 133.4-carat diamond discovered at the start of the year.
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