Petra Diamonds has recovered a white 232.08 ct diamond from its Cullinan mine in South Africa, the largest white diamond mined since 2009 when it had mined the 507 ctCullinan heritage from the same mine. This is in addition to two rare blue coloured diamonds that have also been found during this year.

The miner operates five producing mines in South Africa and one in Tanzania, most of which were earlier operated by De Beers. The Cullinan mine has yielded many large diamonds over the years including the largest ever rough diamond, the 3,106 ctCullinan Diamond, found in 1905.

While the 29.6 ct blue diamond was sold to US luxury jeweller Cora International in February for $25.6m, the other blue stone, a 122.52 ct diamond, has been sold at an auction held in London on September 15 for $27.6 million. The diamond was purchased by a partnership between Petra and a polishing company whose identity was not revealed.

Under the agreement of sale, Petra will receive 85 per cent of the sale value immediately and will also be entitled to a 15 per cent share of the value at which the polished stone is sold.