Petra share price rises as 122.52 carat blue diamond worth £60m is unveiled

Petra Diamonds took the wraps off their 122.52 carat blue diamond yesterday, no bigger than a strawberry, but potentially worth more than £60m – and the sale process will begin next Monday, 18 August.

 

That is when viewing of the diamond will begin and the longing looks will be allowed until 12 September, also the deadline for offers from prospective purchasers.

 

FTSE-250 listed Petra’s shares surged upwards in June after it recovered the blue diamond from the Cullinan mine. It is the largest diamond unearthed there since Petra acquired the site six years ago. The discovery followed an earlier find  in January of a 29.62 carat blue diamond at the same site. That gem sold for £15m a month later.

 

Petra describes the new stone as “exceptional” and it is expected to eclipse the world's current most expensive rough diamond which sold for £20 million in 2010 –  a 507-carat white diamond dug from Cullinan.

 

Petra shares were up 0.52 per cent to 194.3p.