Petra Diamonds Announced That It Recovered A 20.08 Carat Blue Rough Diamond At Its Cullinan Mine

Petra Diamonds had just announced that it found a 20.08 carat Blue rough diamond at its Cullinan mine. The company described it as being exceptional. The way I understand it is that it will most likely yield a Fancy Vivid Blue polished diamond, otherwise, I doubt they would describe as being exceptional knowing that those that will bid for it, will carefully examine it.

The last time Petra diamonds has found some exceptional blue rough diamond was the 29.6 carat blue rough which was discovered in January 2014. From this blue rough diamond, “The Blue Moon” a 12.03 carat Fancy Vivid Blue diamond was born. The 12.03 carat diamond was polished and later sold at auction by Cora International for over $48 million which still holds the world record per carat for any blue diamond sold at auction. The rough was purchased for $25.6 million.

Petra also discovered a 122.52 carat Blue rough diamond in June of 2014, but the color was not as strong. From the 122.52 carat, a few polished diamonds were cut, and the prominent diamond that was polished was the 24.18 carat Fancy Intense Blue “The Cullinan Dream”. The 122.52 carat Blue rough was sold at a value of $27.6 million.

In April 2013, Petra discovered a 25.5 carat Blue rough diamond at the Cullinan mine. It was later polished into a 7.59 carat, Fancy Vivid Blue Round brilliant diamond. The 25.5 carat blue rough diamond was sold for $16.9 million

A 26.58 carat Blue rough diamond was also found at the Cullinan mine in 2008 and later on was polished into a 7.03 carat Fancy Vivid Blue Internally Flawless, which was sold at auction in 2009 for $9.5 million (and was the record price per carat back then.).

A 39.19 carat Blue rough diamond was also found at the Cullinan mine and was sold in October 2008 for $8.8 million.

Petra Diamonds has acquired the Cullinan mine from De Beers in late 2007.