ALROSA subsidiary, JSC Almazy Anabara recently extracted a large 28.59-carat rare Fancy Intense Yellow rough diamond, the largest yellow rough diamond mined by the Company in 2018. The miner said it is yet to decide whether the stone will be auctioned as rough, or will be cut and polished by the company’s cutting division prior to its sale.

The diamond was discovered at Ebelyakh placer deposit in July; it has dimensions of 11.40 x 19.00 x 17.50 mm. This is a chip of the crystal with insignificant colourless inclusions on the surface.

Evgeny Agureev, the Member of the Executive Committee, Director of the United Selling Organization of ALROSA, said, “This stone is unique, because nature seemed to have prepared it for cutting and in advance gave it a pear-like shape. United Selling Organization of ALROSA and the company’s cutting division DIAMONDS ALROSA have yet to study the diamond and decide whether to auction it as a rough or to cut it into polished diamond. However, even now one can say this is a worthy specimen for replenishing our collection of colored diamonds.”

Almazy Anabara has mined the largest number of fancy-coloured stones including a unique 27.85-carat pure pink diamond – the largest pink stone in ALROSA’s history, and a large 34.17-carat vivid yellow diamond, both extracted in 2017.

ALROSA plans to focus its cutting division on the processing of large and coloured diamonds and the subsequent sales. Starting 2018, ALROSA sorts coloured diamonds according to a new technology, that includes almost all hues and colour grades. Most of these diamonds are processed by DIAMONDS ALROSA - the company's own polished branch.

Currently, ALROSA produces at least seven thousand carats of coloured diamonds per year and in September held an auction of a collection of 250 diamonds of different shapes and hues, its first of polished coloured diamonds. The company plans to run such auctions regularly.