A 12.76 carat rough pink diamond was mined at a Rio mine in Western Australia. This marks a record for the largest pink diamond ever unearthed in Australia’s history.
Early estimates anticipate that the diamond will command $10-$20 million dollars if it is sent to auction. Josephine Johnson, Rio’s Argyle Pink Diamonds manager, expects cutting and polishing to take approximately 10 days.
“A diamond of this calibre is unprecedented and generating incredible excitement – It’s taken 26 years of Argyle production to unearth this stone and we may never see one like this again.”
The pink diamond market is one that is described by the miner as “elite and discrete” with buyers including heads of state, royalty, celebrities and other high net worth individuals.
Demand for such rare pink diamonds have caused prices to skyrocket and are thought to be one of “the most concentrated forms of wealth on earth and well in excess of white diamonds,” according to Rio.
