Unique diamond found in Siberia

A unique diamond the weight of over 300 carats was found in Yakutia (a republic in Eastern Siberia).

As RIA Novosti was told on Thursday in the press service of the ALROSA joint-stock company, Factory No. 12 of the Udachninsky Ore Mining Integrated Works recovered a gem diamond of 301.55 carats, 46x32x26 millimetres, of a lemon colour and having no inclusions.

According to the data of the press service, this unique in size crystal is the third in weight among the gem diamonds recovered during all the years of diamond mining in the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation. It is inferior only to the diamond named after the 26th KPSS Congress which was of 342.5 carats and was found in the Mir Pipe, and also to the Alexander Pushkin diamond of 320.65 carats found in December 1989 in the Udachnaya Pipe.

According to experts, the found diamond is a fragment of the bigger one. Quite possible that these fragments will also be found and experts will be able to recognise them by colour and line of the spalling.

In 2003, several unique diamonds were found in the Udachnaya Pipe - a big black industrial diamond of 700 carats, several gem diamonds of 80 carats each and rare gem crystals. The latter include a diamond of a tobacco colour of 232.7 carats, found in February, and a tender lemon diamond of an ideal form of 66 carats without natural distortions found in March.