Diamonds are forever: Largest rare diamond from Rio Tinto mine revealed
The Argyle Violet, the “impossibly rare” diamond, first discovered in Western Australia in 2015, is set to be sold for more than A$4 million.
Found in the Australian Rio Tinto Argyle mine, the largest violet diamond to come from the mine was polished from a 9.17 carat rough diamond into a 2.83 carat oval shape and will be the centrepiece of the 2016 Argyle Pink Diamonds tender.
Violet diamonds are extremely rare, with only 12 carats of polished violet diamonds being produced in Argyle’s 32 years.
Rio Tinto Diamonds general manager of sales, Patrick Coppens said “Impossibly rare and limited by nature, The Argyle Violet will be highly sought after for its beauty, size and provenance.”
Rio Tinto owns and operates the Argyle diamond mine in the remote East Kimberley region of Western Australia. Operating since 1983, the mine has produced over 800 million carats of rough diamonds. It is one of the world's largest supplier of diamonds and the world's largest supplier of natural coloured diamonds.
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Read the April 2016 issue of Mining Global magazine
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