ALROSA announced that it discovered a unique 98.8 carat gem quality diamond at the at Zapolyarnaya kimberlite pipe, which is the part of the Verkhne-Munskoye diamond deposit earlier this month. This is the second large diamond of over 50 carats discovered at the site, which is the miner’s newest project, having been opened in October last year.

The gem has an octahedral shape. There are inclusions in the peripheral and intermediate zones. Rough diamond is transparent with a visible yellow shade, gem-quality.

Last year, a 51.49 carat diamond was also discovered at the same pipe.

"This is the second major find since the launch of the deposit last October. It allows us to speak about the great potential of the Verkhne-Munskoye deposit. Not every kimberlite pipe regularly brings large diamonds over 50 carats. Especially when it comes to such a large crystal, like this one - weighing almost 100 carats. Despite some inclusions, it is clear that this is a high quality stone. Evgeny Agureev, Member of the Management Board, Director of the United Selling Organization at ALROSA, said.

The large diamond will be put through a detailed study and evaluation, after which it will be transferred to Diamonds ALROSA cutting and polishing division, Agureev added.

The Verkhne-Munskoye diamond deposit, located in the west of Yakutia is the largest investment project of ALROSA at present with about 16 billion rubles having already been invested in preparation for the mining, and a total outlay of about 60 billion rubles expected to be spent over the entire period of development, including maintenance investments until 2042. The deposit is expected to yield about 1.8 million carats of rough diamonds per year, and its reserves are sufficient to continue mining for more than 20 years - until 2042.

Pic caption: The large 98.8 ct rough diamond recovered at ALROSA’s Verkhne-Munskoye deposit

Pic courtesy: ALROSA