Miners Strike Pink Diamond Jackpot in Angola After 300 Years

The Lucapa Diamond Company sent a statement to investors announcing the discovery of a 170-carat pink diamond known as The Lulo Rose in the Lulo mine in the nation's diamond-rich northeast. It is one of the largest pink diamonds ever found.

The Angolan government, a partner in the mine, applauded the "historic" discovery of the Type IIa diamond, one of the rarest and purest varieties of natural stones.

However, 27 diamonds weighing more than 100 carats have been discovered by the Lulo mining operation since 2015, including the biggest diamond ever discovered in Angola, the 404-carat "4th February Stone," which sold for $16 million in 2016.

The fifth-largest diamond discovered at Lulo, the Lulo Rose, is anticipated to sell for an even greater price, maybe at a dazzling price.

Similar pink diamonds have sold for record-breaking prices, even though The Lulo Rose would need to be cut and polished to be valued at what it is truly worth.

The 59.6-carat Pink Star was purchased for 71.2 million US dollars at a Hong Kong auction in 2017. It is still the most costly diamond ever to change hands.

Pink diamonds are comparatively uncommon, and researchers are still unsure of the process that gives these stones their rose color. The Pink Star, a rough 132-carat pink diamond, was discovered by South African miners in 1999.

According to the announcement, the Lulo Rose will also need to be reduced from its bulky size, which could cause its weight to decrease by as much as 50%.

However, even if the Lulu Rose is downsized to 85 carats, the vibrant pink stone is poised to break records.

Since 2500 B.C., people have been buying and selling diamonds, according to a recent Live Science study. Their brilliant appearance and exceptional rarity made them a sought-after status symbol that only the richest people in the world could buy for millennia.

When carbon deposits are exposed to the intense heat and temperatures of the inner Earth, diamonds are created in the deep Earth, generally 100 miles (160 kilometers) or more below the planet's surface.

While some diamonds may surface during volcanic eruptions, the majority are now discovered by global mining operations.

According to a report published in 2018 by the non-profit Human Rights Watch, mining diamonds has been linked to the eviction of Indigenous peoples, worker exploitation, pollution, and human rights violations.

About 90 million carats of rough diamonds are mined annually for jewelry, bringing in more than $300 billion worldwide.