Image: mid-day.com
In the East Kimberley region of West Australia, a magnificent 12.76 carat pink diamond was unearthed at the Argyle diamond mine, which is one of the world’s largest producers of pink diamonds. This newly-found gem, however, is the largest ever found at the mine.
According to reports in Australia, the 12-carat diamond is expected to sell for at least $10 million when it is sold as part of the annual Argyle Pink Diamonds Tender later this year. First it will have to be cut, polished and then graded by a team of experts.
Josephine Johnson, Argyle Pink Diamonds manager, said, “A diamond of this caliber is unprecedented – it has taken 26 years of Argyle production to unearth this stone and we may never see one like this again.”
This specific Argyle mine produces more than 90% of the world’s pink diamonds. It is estimated to have approximately a 10-year supply left of the pink diamonds so it’s likely a stone of this size will never be found again here. Typically, large pink diamonds head to museums, auctions or even as gifts for royalty.
Richard How Kim Kam is an expert diamond polisher who has worked at Argyle for 25 years. So far he has spent two months assessing and planning the work that will be done to this pink diamond and once he’s ready, he said it will take about 10 days to cut and polish it as a single stone. Knowing the world will be watching, he said he is going to take it very carefully.
Source: Forbes
