The Cullinan Mine in South Africa has yielded yet another large diamond. Petra Diamonds Limited announced today that it had   recovered of a 121.26 carat white diamond at the site. 

“The stone is a Type II diamond of exceptional colour and clarity, and is an outstanding example of the large, high quality diamonds for which the mine is known,” Petra proclaimed.   

Type II diamonds have no measurable nitrogen impurities, which often makes them of top quality in terms of colour and clarity, Petra explained.

The  Cullinan is, arguably, the most eminent mine historically speaking. Not only is it the source of the world’s largest rough diamond ever found – the  Cullinan diamond when recovered in 1905 weighed in at an impressive  3,106  cts – it is also the birthplace of several large renowned  stones, and also a significant source of blue diamonds. 

Amongst the better known diamonds   recovered from the  Cullinan mine which have gone down in history – apart from the Cullinan diamond -- are the  De Beers Centenary (599 carats rough), the Golden Jubilee (755 carats rough) and the famous Taylor-Burton diamond (69 carats polished).  “More recently, the Cullinan Heritage (507 carats rough) was recovered by Petra and sold for US$35.3 million in February 2010, being at the time the highest price on record for a rough diamond,” Petra added. 

The Company has also announced that the newly recovered diamond will be sold in the last tender of Petra’s 2016 financial year (FY 2016 - the current year) in Johannesburg. “This, along with a number of other high quality stones that will also be included in the tender, will deliver an improved product mix at the mine in the last quarter of FY 2016,” Petra concluded.