Lucapa Diamond Company, a Western Australian-based company, discovered the 404.2-carat, type IIa, D colour diamond at its Lulo alluvial diamond project in Angola, southern Africa.
In addition to labelling the stone as the largest found in Angola to date, Lucapa claimed the diamond was the 27th biggest recorded in the world, and the fourth diamond exceeding 100 carats to be mined at Lulo.
Lucapa also indicated the diamond find was the largest recorded by an Australian mining company. According to media reports, the company’s chairman, Miles Kennedy, estimated the diamond’s value to be more than $20 million based on sales of similarly sized stones.
Prior to the discovery, the biggest diamond unearthed at Lulo weighed 133.4 carats. The 217.4-carat ‘Angolan Star’, which was discovered at the Luarica mine in 2007, held the previous record for the largest diamond found in Angola.
Lucapa is the operator of the Lulo project with a 40 per cent interest in the operation. The remaining interest is held by Lulo project partners Endiama (32 per cent) and Rosas & Pétalas (28 per cent).
“We are delighted to have recovered the biggest diamond ever found in Angola,” Endiama chairman Antonio Carlos Sumbula commented. “The Lulo diamond field is an example of what we would like to showcase to the world to encourage international investment in Angola’s diamond mining industry.”
Lucapa chief executive Stephen Wetherall added, “We have always emphasised the very special nature of the Lulo diamond field and this recovery – together with the other 100 carat-plus diamonds recovered this year alone – is further evidence of that.”
The Lulo project covers a 3,000 square kilometre area in the Lunda Norte region of Angola. Angola is believed to be the world’s fourth biggest producer of diamonds by value. Lucapa – formerly Lonrho Mining – began exploration activities at the site in 2008, with mining commencing in January 2015.
Other recent large diamond finds include Canada-based Lucara’s discovery of a 1,111-carat stone in Botswana, and Russian producer Alrosa’s unearthing of a 76-carat diamond followed by a 78-carat stone in the Sakha (Yakutia) Republic of Russia.
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