15 Dec

Small Australian mining company has unearthed a very rare blue diamond

The Merlin diamond mine in the Northern Territory has uncovered a very rare blue coloured diamond.

The Merlin Diamonds company, located about 80km south of Borroloola near the Gulf of Carpentaria, with a market cap of just $10.4 million, announced their newest find, a blue stone at 0.124 carats. The Merlin diamond mine had previously uncovered a 104.73 carat stone leading experts to believe the mine may unearth more in the future.

Merlin Diamonds’ share price jumped more than 6% to $0.016.

“Although only a small diamond at 0.124 carats it does demonstrate the potential for valuable coloured diamonds at Merlin,” the company said in a statement.

“Blue diamonds are one of the rarest diamond colours and high quality blue diamonds are known to command prices”

Last month a 8.01 carat blue sold at auction at Sotheby’s for $17.1 million.

The Lucapa Diamond Company, a small miner based in Perth, has been recovering large diamonds in Angola.

Lucapa, in February 2016 reported finding the largest diamond ever recovered in Angola, a 404.2 carat stone, weighing about 80g making it the largest recovered by an Australian company. The stone sold for $US16 million ($A22.5 million), an average price of $US55,585 ($A72,682) per carat.

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