ALROSA Unveils 28-carat Rare Yellow Diamond

Russian diamond miner ALROSA (MCX:ALRS) has unveiled a rare yellow diamond, unearthed by subsidiary company JSC Almanzy Anabara.

The 28.59-carat rough stone has a greenish-yellow hue and has been classified as a rare fancy intense yellow. The vibrant yellow gem was discovered at the Ebelyakh placer deposit in July, and represents the largest yellow diamond recovered this year by ALROSA.

“The extracted stone is our new unique discovery,” Evgeny Agureev, director of ALROSA’s united selling organization, said in the announcement. “Fancy colors are very rare in nature.”

Not only is the canary colored stone rare from a color perspective, it also has a very distinctive natural shape.

“This stone is also unique, because nature seemed to have prepared it for cutting and in advance gave it a pear-like shape,” added Agureev.

According to the company, the rough gem will be studied and then the decision to cut it into polished smaller stones, or leave it as one large rough gem will be made.

“However, even now one can say this is a worthy specimen for replenishing our collection of colored diamonds,” said Agureev.

So far this year, ALROSA has produced some 7,000 carats of colored diamonds. At its most recent auction in Hong Kong, the company showcased 250 stones in a variety of shapes and colors.

It has been a profitable year for the Moscow-based diamond miner, year-to-date sales are up roughly 9 percent, to RUB 3.662 billion.

“September sales growth against last year numbers is due, partially, to the low base effect of the last year, as sales of +10.8 and +2 carat rough diamonds increased,” Yury Okoemov, deputy CEO, said in the press release.

“At the same time, there is a further slowdown in buying activity of in inexpensive stones, traditional for the holiday season during Diwali celebration in India.”

Alrosa shares were flat on Wednesday (October 10), trading at RUB 104.44.

Image courtesy of ALROSA. 

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Securities Disclosure: I, Georgia Williams, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.