Alrosa has announced the discovery of a 191-carat rough stone from the Botuobinskaya kimberlite pipe in Yakutia, IDEX Online reports.
The Russian mining giant said “the Christmas Day find has high quality characteristics”, and that the diamond will be sent to Alrosa’s United Selling Organization for a detailed evaluation. The Botuobinskaya pipe has been actively mined since 2015, and has yielded “a large proportion of gem-quality and near-gem-quality transparent crystals”, according to the report.
Earlier in December, Alrosa published its polished and rough diamond sales in November, announcing a 5% rise year-on-year to $287.8 million. In the 11 months spanning January to November, the Russian miner’s sales amounted to $2.974 billion.
