Australian miner Lucapa unveils huge, extremely rare pink diamond

An Australian mining company has unveiled a stunning, extremely rare pink diamond cut from a huge rough gem found in Africa.

A Perth-based miner has unveiled a stunning and extremely rare pink diamond cut from a whopping 46 carat gem extracted at its flagship asset in Africa.

Lucapa Diamond Company produced a 15.2 carat heart-shaped diamond and two pear-shaped diamonds weighing 3.3 carats and 2.3 carats from the rough gem, which came from its Lulo mine in Angola.

The 46 carat monster is the biggest rough diamond recovered to date from the project, which began production in 2015.

Lucapa says new diamond marketing regulations enacted in Angola last year have been transformational, enabling producers to achieve better prices.

The 15.2 carat heart-shaped pink diamond came from a massive 46 carat rough gem. Picture: Lucapa Diamond Company via NCA NewsWire

The new laws are said to have increased competition among buyers and transparency around the sale process and boosted government revenue.

The reforms came 16 years after Angola signed up to the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, which aimed to clean up the “blood diamond” trade involving the exploitation of peasant workers and funds used to fuel civil war.

“The results obtained from this diamond are a reflection of the new government policies for the Angolan diamond sub-sector,” Ganga Junior, chairman of Lucapa’s partner Endiama said.

Pink diamonds are set to become even more rare with the recent closure of the Argyle mine in WA. Picture: Lucapa Diamond Company via NCA NewsWire

“They also constitute physical and visible evidence of the great potential of the Lulo mine, which due to the quality and characteristics of the diamonds it has produced boosts our confidence in the future of the national diamond industry.”

Lucapa chief executive Stephen Wetherall noted pink diamonds, which constitute less than 0.1 per cent of global diamond production, were about to become even more scarce with the recent closure of Rio Tinto’s Argyle mine in Western Australia.

Argyle produced about 90 per cent of the world’s pink diamonds and shuttered last month as it had been depleted to the point it was no longer economically viable to operate.

Originally published as Australian miner Lucapa unveils huge, extremely rare pink diamond