Petra Diamonds
Limited
("Petra" or the "Company" or the
“Group”)
Sale of 342 carat
White Diamond and 18 carat Blue Diamond
from the Cullinan
Diamond Mine for a total of US$13.5
million
Petra Diamonds Limited announces that the 342.92 carat Type IIa
white diamond (previously announced on 28
July 2021) and an 18.30 carat Type IIb blue diamond, both
recovered at the Cullinan Diamond Mine in South Africa, have been sold into a
partnership with Stargems (Pty) Ltd (“Stargems”). Petra will
receive an upfront payment of US$10.0
million for the 342.92 carat stone and US$3.5 million for the 18.30 carat stone, as well
as retaining a 50% interest in the profit uplift of the polished
proceeds of both diamonds, after costs.
Stargems is a Johannesburg-based subsidiary of Stargems
Group, an international and vertically integrated diamond company,
and is a diamond beneficiation licencee, allowing for the two
diamonds to be cut and polished in South
Africa.
Richard
Duffy, Chief Executive Officer, commented:
“These two diamonds are wonderful examples of the very high
quality and rare white and blue diamonds that are so well known
from the Cullinan Diamond Mine. We are delighted that both stones
will be manufactured in South
Africa and it is fitting that we will be working with
Stargems, who specialise in the sourcing and supply of the
finest diamonds to customers across the world.”
Shailesh
Javeri, Chairman of Stargems Group, commented:
“It is with great honour that we have
entered into a partnership arrangement with Petra on these two
diamonds from the world-renowned Cullinan Diamond Mine. The stones
will be beneficiated in South
Africa at our Stargems cutting factory in Johannesburg and we look forward to working
closely with Petra during the manufacturing process to reveal the
eventual polished gems.”
Photos of the 342.92 carat diamond can be viewed at:
www.petradiamonds.com/media/image-library/diamonds.
~ Ends ~
For further information, please
contact:
Petra Diamonds,
London
Telephone: +44 20 7494 8203
Cathy Malins
investorrelations@petradiamonds.com
Marianna
Bowes
Des Kilalea
About Petra Diamonds Limited
Petra Diamonds is a leading independent diamond mining group and
a consistent supplier of gem quality rough diamonds to the
international market. The Company has a diversified portfolio
incorporating interests in three underground producing mines in
South Africa (Finsch, Cullinan and
Koffiefontein) and one open pit mine in Tanzania (Williamson).
Petra's strategy is to focus on value rather than volume
production by optimising recoveries from its high-quality asset
base in order to maximise their efficiency and profitability. The
Group has a significant resource base of ca. 244 million carats,
which supports the potential for long-life operations.
Petra strives to operate according to the highest ethical
standards and will only operate in countries which are members of
the Kimberley Process. The Company aims to generate tangible value
for each of its stakeholders, thereby contributing to the
socio-economic development of its host countries and supporting
long-term sustainable operations to the benefit of its employees,
partners and communities.
Petra is quoted with a premium listing on the Main Market of the
London Stock Exchange under the ticker 'PDL'. The Company’s
US$337 million notes due in 2026 are
listed on the Irish Stock Exchange and admitted to trading on the
Global Exchange Market. For more information, visit
www.petradiamonds.com.
Notes to Editors
About the Cullinan Diamond Mine
Located at the foothills of the Magaliesberg mountain range, 37
kilometres north-east of Pretoria
in South Africa, the Cullinan
Diamond Mine is one of the world's most celebrated diamond
mines.
It earned its place in history with the discovery of the
Cullinan diamond in 1905, the largest rough gem diamond ever found
at 3,106 carats. This iconic stone was cut into the two most
important diamonds which form part of the Crown Jewels in the Tower
of London – the First Star of
Africa, which is mounted at the
top of the Sovereign’s Sceptre and which at 530 carats is the
largest flawless cut diamond in the world, and the Second Star of
Africa, a 317 carat polished
diamond which forms the centrepiece of the Imperial State
Crown.
The Cullinan Diamond Mine is renowned as a source of large,
high-quality gem diamonds, including Type II stones, as well as
being the world’s most important source of very rare blue
diamonds.
Type II diamonds contain no detectable nitrogen in their
chemical structure and tend to display exceptional transparency.
Type IIa stones are generally ‘colourless’, meaning they can be the
purest form of white possible. Type IIb stones contain significant
amounts of boron which imparts a blue or grey colour – these stones
are exceedingly rare and are believed to account for ~0.1% of all
natural diamonds.
Many of the most famous diamonds in the world herald from the
Cullinan Diamond Mine and it continues to produce world-class
diamonds under Petra’s stewardship. Notable diamonds historically
produced from the mine include:
- the Premier Rose (353 carats rough);
- the Niarchos (426 carats rough);
- the De Beers Centenary (599 carats rough);
- the Golden Jubilee (755 carats rough); and
- the Taylor-Burton diamond (69 carats polished).
More recently, remarkable diamonds recovered by Petra at the
mine include:
- the Cullinan Heritage (507 carats rough white diamond), sold
for US$35.3 million in 2010;
- the Blue Moon of Josephine (29 carats rough blue diamond), sold
for US$25.6 million in 2014;
- the Cullinan Dream (122 carats rough blue diamond), sold for
US$25.3 million in 2016;
- the Legacy of the Cullinan Diamond Mine (424 carats rough white
diamond), sold for just under US$15
million in May 2019;
- the Letlapa Tala Collection (a collection of five blue diamonds
of high quality and clarity) sold for US$40.36 million in November 2020;
- a 299 carat white diamond sold for US$12.18 million in March
2021; and
- an exceptional 39.34 carat blue diamond sold for US$40.18 million in July
2021, representing a remarkable US$1.0 million per carat. This was the most
valuable diamond sold in Petra’s history and is believed to be the
most valuable rough stone per carat ever sold (though since not all
rough diamond sales are publicly disclosed, this cannot be
established with certainty).
The unique geology of the Cullinan kimberlite pipe means that
the majority of its diamonds are aged between 3.2 and 1.1 billion
years old – spanning a time in the Earth’s history from before the
formation of the first major continents to the beginnings of
multicellular life. However, Type IIb blue diamonds are so rare
that their age has not been established. Recent studies on minerals
trapped inside these diamonds imply that they are amongst the
deepest-formed diamonds ever found, created at depths in excess of
500km below the Earth’s surface. The boron that gives their blue
colour has been linked to seawater suggesting that these diamonds
are a record of rocks from the ocean floor that have been
transported to the lower mantle by plate tectonics, where these
diamonds formed under conditions of extreme pressure and
temperature.
More information on the Cullinan Diamond Mine’s unique heritage
can be found at
https://www.petradiamonds.com/about-us/our-heritage/.
The Cullinan Diamond Mine is a significant employer in
South Africa, with a workforce
encompassing over 1,200 employees and just under 300 contractors.
It plays an active role in its local communities, with a particular
focus on improving education standards, supporting small to medium
sized enterprises and addressing other needs deemed to be most
critical to its stakeholders.
About blue diamonds
Blue diamonds are one of nature’s most special treasures. They
are so rare that there are no official statistics on their
recovery, however the Cullinan Mine in South Africa is known as the world’s most
important source.
True miracles of nature, the captivating blue colour is produced
by the presence of the trace element boron within the stone’s
carbon structure during its formation deep within the Earth’s
mantle.
Virtually every blue diamond described by the GIA Gem Trade
Laboratory as “blue” is classified as a Type IIb diamond. Type IIb
diamonds are unique in a number of their gemmological properties,
such as their ability to conduct electricity and phosphoresce to
short-wave UV. No known laboratory-grown or treated blue diamond
displays the combination of electrical conductivity and
phosphorescence seen in naturally occurring blues.
High quality blue diamonds command the very highest values, with
the 12 carat polished Blue Moon of Josephine (cut from a 29 carat
rough blue diamond from the Cullinan Mine) selling for US$48.5 million in 2015, representing an
extraordinary +US$4 million per carat (US$20
million per gram), which remains the world record price per
carat ever paid for a diamond.