JOHANNESBURG (AP) — A big pink diamond of 170 carats has been discovered in Angola and is claimed to be the largest such gemstone found in 300 years.
Called the “Lulo Rose," the diamond was found at the Lulo alluvial diamond mine, the mine's owner, the Lucapa Diamond Company, announced Wednesday on its website.
The Lulo mine has already produced the two largest diamonds ever found in Angola, including a 404-carat clear diamond.
The pink gemstone is the fifth largest diamond found at the mine where 27 diamonds of 100 carats or more have been found, according to Lucapa, which is based in Australia.
The pink diamond will be sold by international tender by the Angolan state diamond marketing company, Sodiam. Angola's mines make it one of the world's top 10 producers of diamonds.
“This record and spectacular pink diamond recovered from Lulo continues to showcase Angola as an important player on the world stage for diamond mining and demonstrates the potential and rewards for commitment and investment in our growing diamond mining industry,” Diamantino Azevedo, Angola’s Minister of Mineral Resources, Petroleum and Gas said, according to the Lucapa website.
The pink diamond is an impressive size but many clear diamonds are larger than 1,000 carats. The Cullinan diamond found in South Africa in 1905 tips the scales at 3,106 carats and it's in the British Sovereign's Scepter.