According to an article on independent.co.uk, Petra Diamonds has recovered an extremely rare 23.16 carat pink diamond from its Williamson mine in Tanzania.
The pink diamond – one of the most highly coveted of all the colored stones – is an example of high quality and is the most significant recovery by Petra from the mine to date, according to the mining group.
“Pink diamonds are only found in a handful of mines throughout the world and their rarity ensures that they are one of the most highly coveted of all the fancy colors,” the company said in a statement.
Pink color in diamonds is thought to be brought about by an alteration to the stone’s molecular structure, possibly caused by some kind of seismic shock at the time of the diamond’s formation.
This new pink stone is said to be of much better quality than the high-quality 16.4 carat pink diamond recovered at the same mine in September 2014. The 2014 stone later sold for $2.2 million.
In almost 250 years of auction history, only three pure vivid pink diamonds of over 10 carats have appeared for sale, according to Christie’s.