Lucapa Diamond Company produced a 15.2 carat heart-shaped diamond and two pear-shaped diamonds weighing 3.3 carats and 2.3 carats from the rough gem, which came from its Lulo mine in Angola.
Lucapa says new diamond marketing regulations enacted in Angola last year have been transformational, enabling producers to achieve better prices. The reforms came 16 years after Angola signed up to the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, which aimed to clean up the “blood diamond” trade involving the exploitation of peasant workers and funds used to fuel civil war.
Pink diamonds are set to become even more rare with the recent closure of the Argyle mine in WA. Picture: Lucapa Diamond Company via NCA NewsWire“They also constitute physical and visible evidence of the great potential of the Lulo mine, which due to the quality and characteristics of the diamonds it has produced boosts our confidence in the future of the national diamond industry.”