A rare and extraordinary diamond has been unearthed in the east Kimberly.
The sparkling beauty was discovered at the Rio Tinto owned Argyle Diamond mine last month.
The rare diamond comes in at 28.84-carats, one of the biggest ever recovered from the mine site.
Andrew Wilson, Argyle Diamon GM, said it’s one of the biggest gem-quality white diamonds ever found in Australia.
The diamond, called Argyle Octavia, is set to fetch millions.
The stone will now be sold by private tender at the world’s premier diamond sales organisation in Belgium.
The company was unwilling to attach a value to the stone right now.
“It will go to Antwerp, and through our auction process, and the market will determine its value,” Mr Wilson said.
“Let’s hope there’s somebody who’s got a passion for West Australian Argyle diamonds … hopefully we have that opportunity to see it on a beautiful piece of jewellery.”
The famous Kimberly diamond mine is still due to shutdown in 2020.
The economics of drilling any deeper than the current mine level won’t be feasible by next year, with 450 staff set to lose their jobs at the mine.
Rio Tinto’s Argyle diamond mine, operating since 1983, is renowned as the world’s largest coloured diamond mine, with a much more sporadic production of large white diamonds. Since commencement of the mine in 1983, gem quality white diamonds greater than 20 carats have comprised around 0.00007 percent of Argyle’s production.
Andrew Wilson, General manager of Argyle Diamonds said “Argyle Octavia™ is unique in its size, shape and beautiful provenance and will take its place in Argyle’s history as one of a few special large white diamonds ever to be produced from the mine.”
Related:
https://soperth.com.au/must-see-black-diamond-lake-collie-17223
