Russia’s diamond miner Alrosa has extracted one of the largest gem-quality diamonds found at the ‘International’ pipe over the past two years, Mining.com reported.
The extracted rough diamond, weighing almost 118.91 carats, has a light yellow overblown and salient edges, one of them with cleavage, and small inclusions in the central zone, the company said in a press release.
“This crystal is unique as it has a large clean area despite the inclusions in the center – this makes it a gem-quality diamond. Well-known hallmarks of the diamonds from the “International” kimberlite pipeare regular shapes and purity. That is exactly the pipe that most often brings Alrosa regular shapeoctahedrons with smooth edges,” explained Evgeny Agureev, Member of the Management Board, Director of the United Selling Organization at ALROSA.
The diamond was mined right on the eve of the launch of Zarya – Alrosa’s new deposit at the Aykhal Mining and Processing Plant. The company considers assigning the name “Zarya” to the new extracted crystal in honor of the launch event.
The mined crystal is one of the largest gem-quality diamonds extracted from the ground at the mine ‘International’ in recent years. Earlier, a similar large gem-quality diamond (109.61 carats) was mined there in the summer of 2017.
