Petra Diamonds Limited announced yesterday that it has recovered an exceptional 20.08 carat blue gem quality Type IIb diamond from the famous Cullinan Diamond Mine in South Africa.

The mine has a history of producing large and rare diamonds. The largest rough diamond ever found, the 3,106 ct Cullinan Diamond (after which the mine was subsequently renamed) was discovered here in 1905.

Since acquiring a stake in the mine from De Beers in 2008, and a controlling interest in 2009, the Cullinan mine has yielded a number of exceptional stones for Petra, including quite a few rare blue diamonds.

Commenting on the discovery, the Company said in a statement, “Today's recovery not only demonstrates the quality of Petra's asset base, as the Cullinan diamond mine remains a significant source of rare blue diamonds, but it again confirms the prevalence of exceptional stones in the Cullinan orebody as well as the ability of the mine's plant to recover the full spectrum of diamonds.”

Earlier this month, Petra released its results for FY 2019 (ended June 30, 2019), reporting that despite a “solid operational performance” there was a decline in revenue and profit which it said was a result of a “weaker market”.

Pic caption: The 20.08 ct blue diamond recovered at Cullinan

Pic courtesy: Petra Diamonds