Alrosa finds three large diamonds at prolific Jubilee pipe

World’s top diamond producer by output, Alrosa (MCX:ALRS), had quite a month in October as the Russian miner managed to find three large rough, gem-quality stones ranging from 82 to 163 carats at the Jubilee kimberlite pipe of its Aikhalsky Mining unit in the country’s northeast.

The diamonds recovered by Alrosa are an 82.82-carat and a 108.34-carat transparent yellow-tinted stones, as well as a 163.11-carat rough yellow-hue diamond.

“Simultaneous extraction of three large rough diamonds, two of which are over 100 carats, within such a short period of time is a one-off event especially when it comes to gem-quality diamonds,” the director of the company’s United Selling Organization (USO), Evgeny Agureev, said in the statement.

As a rule, Agureev noted, only 5-10 similar stones over 100 carats may be recovered within a year, and they are always in great demand at auctions.

The 82.82-carat octahedron rough diamond, measuring 23.28 x 19.06 x 18.8 x 15.94 mm. (Image: Alrosa.)

The 82.82-carat octahedron diamond measures 23.28 x 19.06 x 18.8 x 15.94 mm. It is a transparent yellow-tinted crystal with small inclusions, Alrosa said. The 108.34-carat one measures 23 x 20.56 x 18.07 x 17.86 mm and has a yellow-tinted colour with small inclusions. The 163.11-carat stone, in turn, measures 26.67 x 25.59 x 22.4 mm. It is a transparent yellow-hue crystal with inclusions near the surface, the Russian miner said.

The 108.34-carat rough diamond, which measures 23 x 20.56 x 18.07 x 17.86 mm. (Image: Alrosa.)

The three diamonds will be delivered to Alrosa’s USO for a detailed assessment in the coming days.

Alrosa’s Jubilee pipe is famous for its large finds. A few diamonds from 50 to 138 carats were recovered from the deposit in the past two years, including a 76.07-carat diamond, which was named in honour of 70 Years of the Soviet Union’s Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 against Nazi Germany.

The 163.11-carat rough diamond, measuring 26.67 x 25.59 x 22.4 mm. (Image: Alrosa.)

It was discovered in 1975 and ranks among the largest primary diamond deposits both in Yakutia and abroad.

The company’s business unit Aikhal Mining accounted for over 30% of Alrosa’s total raw diamonds in 2016. It generated 12.2 million carats, worth $1.2 billion, according to the firm.

From January to September, Jubilee has produced 6.57 million carats of rough diamonds or about 22% of the company’s total diamond output, Alrosa said.

This year the company has also achieved another milestone — surpassing its own record number of large coloured diamonds unearthed in a year, with the latest discovery being a 34.17-carat yellow diamond — the biggest find by Alrosa to date.