RUSSIAN MINING FIRM FINDS 236-CARAT ROUGH DIAMOND

The Russian mining firm Alrosa found a 236-carat color rough diamond in North Yakutia, the largest color diamond ever mined in Russia, the Russian news agency TASS reported late on Friday, August 7, 2020.

"The diamond was extracted from the Ebelyakh mine in Yakutia, Russia. This is the largest natural color rough diamond ever found in Russia," the company told Yuri Smityuk of TASS.

The rough diamond is of intense yellow-brown color. Its dimensions are 47x24x22 mm. According to a preliminary estimate, it is anywhere from 120 million to 130 million years old, Alrosa said.

"Such a large natural color rough diamond is a unique discovery. Now, the stone is at Alrosa’s United Selling Organization being studied and evaluated by our specialists. After that, we will decide whether to give it to our manufacturers for cutting or sell it as a rough. Of course, cutters in any country will be interested in such a diamond, as it has the potential to give several high quality polished diamonds," said Pavel Vinikhin, the head of Diamonds of Alrosa cutting and polishing division.