The 404.2-carat rough diamond, which was discovered by Western Australia-based company Lucapa Diamond Company, recently sold for $22.5 million. The sale represented a price of $56,000 per carat and set a new record price for a Lulo white diamond.
As previously reported by Jeweller, Lucapa unearthed the type IIa, D colour stone at its Lulo alluvial diamond project in Angola, southern Africa.
Lucapa announced the discovery on 15 February 2016 and claimed the stone was the largest found in Angola to date as well as the largest recorded diamond find by an Australian company.
Company chief executive Stephen Wetherall said the sale was evidence of the Lulo project’s high-carat potential.
“The sale of a single diamond for US$16 million underlines the huge potential of the Lulo diamond field to regularly produce gems which are both large and of world-class quality,” he stated.
“We look to the future with tremendous excitement at Lulo as we continue mining these exceptional alluvial diamond areas, growing our alluvial mining capability and advancing the kimberlite exploration program to locate the primary source or sources of these gems.”
Lucapa began exploration activities at the Lulo project site in 2008 and commenced mining in January 2015. The company has a 40 per cent interest in the project as operator, with the remaining interest held by Lulo project partners Endiama (32 per cent) and Rosas & Pétalas (28 per cent).
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