[imagesource: Petra Diamonds

Diamonds are a gir… struggling mining industry’s best friend.

Although, we can probably say that South Africa’s mining industry will be just fine after this recent find.

Just two weeks after Petra Diamonds sold the rare 39,34-carat type IIb blue diamond, which set a new record for the highest price ever for a single stone, the company found yet another notable gem.

This new 342,92-carat Type IIa white rough diamond is of “exceptional” quality in terms of both its colour and clarity, according to the company.

It was also unearthed at the iconic Cullinan mine, which is where the diamonds on the Crown Jewels comes from, too.

Mining.com notes that the stone type is rare, and also more valuable than type I diamonds, as they have no measurable nitrogen impurities, which is where their “exceptional” transparency and brilliance comes from.

This is the British-based mining company’s third notable find this year, as Business Insider notes.

The rare 39,34-carat type IIb blue diamond was found in April at the Cullinan mine and sold for $40,2 million (around R590 million) in mid-July.

Back in 2014, the 29-carat Blue Moon of Josephine sold as an uncut stone for a total of $25,6 million (around R380 million), which is the record for the highest price-per-carat ever sold.

This new type II white diamond has eight times more carats than the rare blue diamond sold recently.

All in all, the mine has already proven to be a great investment:

The Cullinan mine…was sold by De Beers to Petra in 2008 for R1 billion. Since then, at least eight notable diamonds have been recovered from the Cullinan mine, earning Petra $207 million (R3 billion).

The price of the white diamond will probably be based on others of its kind sold before:

Petra fetched in March $12,2 million for a 299,3-carat Type IIA white diamond.

That meant it obtained $40,701 per carat, which exceeds the $34,386/ct received for the 424,89-carat “Legacy of the Cullinan Diamond Mine” in May 2019.

Petra has announced that the uncut Type IIa white diamond will likely be sold in September.

[sources:mining&businessinsider]