Petra Diamonds shares jump after another discovery at Cullinan

The 100.83 carat D-Colour Type II gem quality diamond was found at the Cullinan mine. (Image courtesy of Petra Diamonds.)

South Africa’s Petra Diamonds (LON:PDL) has found a 100.83 carat gem-quality diamond at its iconic Cullinan mine in South Africa.

The D-colour, Type II diamond follows the recent recovery of a 6.12 carat Type II blue stone, also at Cullinan.

The company has piled up debt after building a new plant and digging deeper at its flagship Cullinan diamond mine.

“The recoveries demonstrate the prevalence of these types of stones in the Cullinan orebody as well as the ability of the mine’s plant to recover the full spectrum of diamonds,” Petra said.

The company, which appointed last month former gold miner Richard Duffy as chief executive, said that both stones would be included in its upcoming March tender.

Shares climbed as much as 10.5% after the announcement, closing at 21.2p in London on Friday.

Petra has been seeking to turn around its fortunes after piling up debt to expand Cullinan, where the world’s biggest-ever diamond was found in 1905.

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