A collection of rare blue diamonds unearthed by Petra has been sold for $40.36 million to De Beers and Diacore through a tender process, the company said on Wednesday.
The Letlapa Tala Collection of five blue diamonds, weighing 85.6 carats in total, was mined from the Cullinan Mine in September 2020 within the within the space of one week’s production.
"We believe this to be the first time that five rough blue diamonds of significant size, colour and clarity have been offered for sale at one time and we are delighted that the collection has been bought in its entirety," said CEO Richard Duffy.
The company said in October that blue diamonds are so rare that most people working in the diamond industry have never even seen one, and that there are no official statistics on their recovery.
Petra Diamonds operates three mines in South Africa: Cullinan, Finsch and Koffiefontein, as well as Williamson in Tanzania.
*Compiled by Sibongile Khumalo