MOSCOW, February 11. /TASS/. A diamond weighing 121.96 carats has been recovered from the Jubilee kimberlite pipe in Yakutia in northeast Russia, diamond miner Alrosa reported on Thursday.
The diamond was extracted by the company’s business unit Aikhal Mining and Processing Division at the processing plant No.14, Alrosa said.
"The diamond has an octahedral shape, its dimensions are 31.28 x 30.00 x 28.57 mm. The crystal of ‘2 Black Sawables 3 color’ quality is transparent with moderate yellowish hue. There are small olivine, graphite and sulphide inclusions in this crystal," the company said in a statement.
"The diamond’s value can be estimated at about $1.5 million," expert of the sectoral analytical agency Rough and Polished Sergei Goryainov told TASS.
Alrosa’s Jubilee pipe is famous for its large finds. A few diamonds from 50 to 138 carats were recovered from the deposit last year, including a 76.07-carat diamond, which was named in honor of 70 Years of the Soviet Union’s Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 against Nazi Germany.
Meanwhile, these are far from the largest diamond finds in history. Thus, the world’s largest diamond in the past 100 years was found in Botswana in November 2015. It weighed 1,111 carats and was discovered at a mine under development by the Canadian firm Lucara Diamond Corporation. Several other super-large diamonds, including a diamond of 813 carats, were also recovered from the Karowe Mine.
Meanwhile, the Cullinan Diamond weighing 3,106 carats (621 grams) and discovered in South Africa in 1905 is still regarded as the world’s biggest diamond. The gems made from this diamond decorate the crown and the scepter of the British monarchs.