A huge pink diamond found by Australian miner

This 38.6-carat stone is the largest “fancy” coloured diamond recovered to date from Lulo. (Image courtesy of Lucapa Diamond.)

The Lucapa Diamond Company, a small Australian mining company based in Perth Limited, has uncovered a rare large pink diamond in Africa.

The 38.6 carat pink diamond was recovered during alluvial mining operations at the Lulo Diamond Project in Angola.

It’s the largest fancy coloured diamond recovered so far at Lulo. The previous biggest was a 28.5 carat light pink diamond included in the company’s most recent sale parcel.

That parcel of 3,642 carats of Lulo diamonds sold for a combined of $US4.4 million ($A5.8 million), or an average of $US1,212 ($A1,606) per carat.
Pink diamonds are rare with about 90% of the world’s supply produced at the Argyle mine in Western Australia.

The Lucapa Diamond Company in February reported finding the largest diamond ever recovered in Angola, a 404.2 carat stone, weighing about 80 grams.

That diamond, the largest recovered by an Australian company, sold for $US16 million ($A22.5 million), an average price of $US55,585 ($A72,682) per carat.

The previous record for Angola’s largest diamond belonged to the Angolan Star, a 217.4 carat gem recovered in 2007.

The company is essentially finding diamonds as it digs trenches in search of the core of the diamond source, the kimberlite pipe, a type of rock deposit where diamonds form.

Lucapa Diamond Company shares are trading at 34.5 cents, up from a 12 month low of 17 cents but down from a 61 cent high in October last year.

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