Miners in Angola have unearthed a diamond that would make even the Pink Panther jealous.
The rare, 170-carat pure pink diamond is believed to be the largest found in 300 years, according to the Australian mine site operation company that located the gemstone.
The Lucapa Diamond Company named the pink diamond “The Lulo Rose.” It was discovered at the Lulo alluvial mine in the northeastern region of Angola, where diamonds are plentiful, according to an investor announcement released by the company on Wednesday.
A YouTube video flaunting the pink diamond was released by the mining company on Tuesday.
The pink gemstone is a Type IIa diamond, one of the rarest and most pure of all naturally developed stones.
Even the Angolan government shared its excitement for this historic find.
“This record and spectacular pink diamond recovered from Lulo continues to showcase Angola as an important player on the world stage,” Angola’s Mineral Resources Minister Diamantino Azevedo said in the Lucapa Diamond Company’s statement.
Though the market price of the pink diamond is not yet known, the Lucapa Diamond Company revealed the stone would be sold via international tender.
The stone will still need to be cut and polished to achieve a shiny, glamorous appearance — and its true, likely extravagant, value. During this process, however, diamonds often lose an average of 50 per cent of their weight.
The Lulo Rose is reportedly the fifth-largest diamond recovered from the Lulo mines, where 27 other 100-plus carat diamonds have also been found, the Lucapa Diamond Company says.
Other pink diamonds have sold in auctions around the world with tremendous price tags attached.
In 2017, the uncut 132.5-carat “Pink Star” diamond sold for US$71.2 million in a Hong Kong-based auction. To date, the Pink Star is the most expensive diamond ever sold.