507 Carat diamond found in South African mine

September 30th, 2009 - 9:09 pm ICT by Aishwarya Bhatt  

Johannesburg, Sep 30 (THAINDIAN NEWS) One of the biggest and the costliest diamond in the world has been found in South Africa on Sept 24, in the Cullinan mine, where previously also big discoveries have been made. It is the same mine where the famous Cullian mine was found in 1905.

A spokesman for mining firm Petra Diamond said the gemstone found last week was among the world’s 20 largest diamonds ever discovered.

He added: ‘Initial examinations indicate that it is of exceptional color and clarity, and most likely to be a Type I diamond.

‘At 507 carats (just over 100 grams) the diamond, which has yet to be named, is considered to be amongst the top 20 largest high quality rough diamonds ever found worldwide. It ranks alongside other illustrious diamonds recovered at the celebrated Cullinan mine.

Johan Dippenaar, the company’s chief executive said in a statement Tuesday that the 507.55-carat gem was of “exceptional color and clarity.”

The diamond, which weighs just over 100 grams hasn’t been valued as yet though it is estimated to be among the top 20 high quality gems of the world.

This huge ‘chicken egg’ sized diamond was found alongside three other valuable diamonds, with miners also unearthing a gemstone of 168.00 carats and two other valuable stones of 58.50 and 53.30 carats.

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