Huge 23 carat Pink diamond recovered by Petra in Tanzania

Petra Diamonds has recovered an extremely rare  23.16 carat pink diamond from its Williamson mine in Tanzania.

The pink diamond – one of the most highly coveted of all the coloured stones – is an example of high quality and is the most significant recovery by Petra from the mine to date, according to the mining group.

“Pink diamonds are only found in a handful of mines throughout the world and their rarity ensures that they are one of the most highly coveted of all the fancy colours,” the company said in a statement.

Pink colour in diamonds is thought to be brought about by an alteration to the stone’s molecular structure, possibly caused by some kind of seismic shock at the time of the diamond’s formation.

The rough diamond will be sold at an auction in Antwerp in December.

The new stone is said to be of much better quality than the high-quality 16.4 carat pink diamond recovered at the mine in September 2014. The stone later sold for $2.2 million.

An unidentified Chinese client purchased a cushion-shaped pink diamond weighing 16.08 carat at auction for the record price of £19 million as a gift for his daughter on November 10.

In almost 250 years of auction history, only three pure vivid pink diamonds of over 10 carats have appeared for sale, according to Christie's.

Independent.co.uk