Lucapa Diamond Company has found a 95.45 ct. ultrarare Type IIa diamond at its Lulo Diamond Concession in Angola.
It is the second largest diamond recovered from Lulo; a 131.4 carat Type IIa stone was discovered there in 2012.
The stone has an irregular shape and measures 25 mm by 20 mm by 16 mm.
At press time, the company had no comment on its clarity and noted it was awaiting a final verdict on its color.
“It has not been cleaned, and the appearance and clarity of the diamond is expected to be dramatically improved after iron staining has been removed,” said a statement from the miner. “Currently, the color is classified as D-E, which would normally make the diamond an ‘exceptional white.’ However, the colorimeter also describes the stone as brown. Cleaning the diamond and retesting it with the colorimeter should resolve the classification.”
Type IIa diamonds are much sought after in part because they are suitable for HPHT treatment.
The Lulo concession is a joint venture between Lucapa (formerly Lonrho) and Angola’s government-owned diamond company, Endiama. It is located in the country’s diamond-rich Lunda Norte province, some 750 kilometers from Angola’s capital city of Luanda.
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