Pink diamonds have had a big year; they are considered highly prized and continue to gain popularity due to their color and scarcity, as almost all of the world’s pink diamonds come from the Argyle mine in West Australia. However, Kimberly Consolidated Ltd., a South African diamond miner, uncovered a large pink diamond in South Africa recently.
The company announced today that a 27 carat light pink diamond had been found by contractor’s in their Bo Karoo mine, on the Northern Cape.
The company, which has been having a bit of financial worries recently, is planning on selling the diamond at tender after polishing and hopes that the proceeds can help them out during these tough times, according to CFO Rican Visser.
Visser, who spoke to reporters in a phone interview, said that size of the diamond was not as important as the quality. The last time a diamond of this quality was found was 4 years ago and sold for $85,000 per carat, according to Visser.
One of the most famous pink diamonds in the world is a 5 carat fancy vivid pink diamond, which made history when it broke the record for price per carat at auction in 2008. That record was recently broken by the 10.95 carat, Bulgari blue triangular, diamond ring that went for $1.5 million per carat this past October. The Pink Panther Diamond, a 25 carat pink diamond ring, is going up for auction November 16th. In fact, aside from red diamonds, pink diamonds are considered the most expensive diamonds in the world, and this one is set to sell for anywhere from $28 to $39 million. That’s one expensive engagement ring.
Kimberly Consolidated’s Chief Executive Officer Phemelo Sehunelo couldn’t be more pleased with the timing of this latest discovery. “We have been blessed,” Sehunelo said, “with this stone.”