South Africa’s Petra Diamonds (LON:PDL) hasfound yetanother big rockat its iconic Cullinan mine, a 39.34 carat Type IIb gem said to be of “exceptional quality” due to both its colour and clarity.
The miner didn’t indicate the diamond’s potential value but said it would sell it in a special tєɴԀer.
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Cullinan is known as the world’s most important source of blue diamonds, as well as being the birthplace of the 3,106-carat Cullinan diamond, which was cut to form the 530-carat Great Star of Africa.
The operation also yielded the 317-carat Second Star of Africa. They are the two largest diamonds in theBritish Crown Jewels.
Issues in Tanzania
Petra Diamonds is in a weak financial position after two years of stagnant demand and heavy borrowing to expand its mines, particularly Cullinan. This drove the miner to put itself up for sale in June last year, though Petrareversed the decision in October, opting instead for the debt-for-equity restructuring,completed last month.
The diamond miner, which has three operations in South Africa and one in Tanzania,is alsoԀєɑłing with allegations of human rights abusesat its Williamson mine in Tanzania, resulting from the actions of its security guards.
Petrasaid last monthit would delay the publication of an internal probeinto accusations as it had obtained new information related tothe case.
Amid the new evidence, there is the testimony of a former guard who said security forces employed at Williamson intentionally swapped rubber projectiles with metal bullets in their weapons to Ԁєɑł with trespassers.
It now expects to release the results of the inquiry and the company’s reaction to them by the єɴԀ of April.
