Petra recovers 138.57 white diamond at South Africa's mine

(AGI) - Cape Town, Aug. 10 - Independent diamond mining group Petra Diamonds today announced that it had recovered a 138.57 carat white diamond at the historic Cullinan mine near Pretoria in South Africa. The diamond is classified as type IIa, D colour, meaning it has high colour and clarity. "This find is a wonderful example of the exceptional large white diamonds for which the Cullinan mine is famous. Cullinan is a very special mine in that it is the source of the world?s largest gem diamond ever recovered ? the 3.106 carat Cullinan diamond, which provided the two largest diamonds within the British Crown Jewels,? Petra's CEO Johan Dippenaar said. The diamond will be offered for sale in Johannesburg as part of the company's next sales process later this month, the diamond miner said. The company had earlier this year sold a 121.26 carat white diamond recovered from the same mine for $6m to a joint venture between Nemesis International and Golden Yellow Diamonds.. Petra Diamonds has interests in six producing operations: four underground mines in South Africa (Finsch, Cullinan, Koffiefontein and Kimberley Underground), extensive tailings operations in Kimberley in South Africa's Northern Cape province and one open pit mine in Tanzania (Williamson). It also maintains an exploration programme in Botswana. (AGI) .