London-listed Petra Diamonds (LON:PDL), already known for its major findings of recent months, has just unearthed a 121.26-carat white rock from its Cullinan mine in South Africa.
The gem is a Type II diamond “of exceptional colour and clarity”, the company said, and is “an outstanding example of the large, high quality diamonds for which the mine is known.”
While Petra did not provide a value estimation, it did say the freshly found rock, along with a number of other high quality stones, will be sold in the last tender of its 2016 financial year.
Last week, a 24.18-carat intense blue diamond known as The Cullinan Dream, which Petra found in 2014, sold for $25.4 million in New York, breaking all records and becoming the most expensive gem of its kind ever sold at auction.
The Cullinan mine, located north-east of Pretoria, has yielded several massive gems, including the largest rough gem diamond ever discovered — the Cullinan. The 3,106-carat stone was cut into two highly significant diamonds, which can be found in the Crown Jewels of the Queen of England.
Petra, which operates four diamond mines in South Africa and one in Tanzania, posted a loss for the first half of its financial year in February, due to fewer sales demand and a glut of supply that pushed rough diamond prices down by 9%.