REG-Petra Diamonds: Letlapa Tala Collection Tender achieves US$40.36m

Petra DiamondsAnnouncement

25/11/2020 07:05

25 November 2020   LSE: PDL 

Petra Diamonds Limited

(“Petra”, “the Company”)

Letlapa Tala Collection Special Tender achieves US$40.36 million

Following a competitive tender process, Petra Diamonds Limited announces that
the Letlapa Tala Collection of five blue diamonds, weighing 85.6 carats in
total, was sold as a suite of stones to a partnership between De Beers and
Diacore for a total price of US$40.36 million, payable in cash prior to
delivery of the stones.

Richard Duffy, Chief Executive of Petra, commented:

“The result of this special tender affirms the very high value placed on
blue diamonds, which are undoubtedly one of nature’s rarest treasures. We
believe this to be the first time that five rough blue diamonds of significant
size, colour and clarity have been offered for sale at one time and we are
delighted that the collection has been bought in its entirety.”

Photos of the Letlapa Tala Collection can be viewed at:
www.petradiamonds.com/media/image-library/diamonds. A video of the Letlapa
Tala Collection can be viewed at
https://www.petradiamonds.com/media/video-library.

~ Ends ~

For further information, please contact:

Petra Diamonds,
London                                        
Telephone: +44 20 7494 8203

Cathy Malins

Des Kilalea     

Marianna Bowes 
                                          
            investorrelations@petradiamonds.com

About Petra Diamonds Limited

Petra Diamonds is a leading independent diamond mining group and a consistent
supplier of gem quality rough diamonds to the international market. The
Company has a diversified portfolio incorporating interests in three
underground producing mines in South Africa (Finsch, Cullinan and
Koffiefontein) and one open pit mine in Tanzania (Williamson).

Petra's strategy is to focus on value rather than volume production by
optimising recoveries from its high-quality asset base in order to maximise
their efficiency and profitability. The Group has a significant resource base
of ca. 243 million carats, which supports the potential for long-life
operations.

Petra conducts all operations according to the highest ethical standards and
will only operate in countries which are members of the Kimberley Process. The
Company aims to generate tangible value for each of its stakeholders, thereby
contributing to the socio-economic development of its host countries and
supporting long-term sustainable operations to the benefit of its employees,
partners and communities.

Petra is quoted with a premium listing on the Main Market of the London Stock
Exchange under the ticker 'PDL' and is a constituent of the FTSE4Good Index.
The Company’s US$650 million loan notes due in 2022, currently subject to
restructuring, are listed on the Global Exchange market of the Irish Stock
Exchange. For more information, visit www.petradiamonds.com.

Notes to Editors

About the Cullinan Mine

Located at the foothills of the Magaliesberg mountain range, 37 kilometres
north-east of Pretoria in South Africa, the Cullinan Mine is one of the
world's most celebrated diamond mines.

It earned its place in history with the discovery of the Cullinan diamond in
1905, the largest rough gem diamond ever found at 3,106 carats. This iconic
stone was cut into the two most important diamonds which form part of the
Crown Jewels in the Tower of London – the First Star of Africa, which is
mounted at the top of the Sovereign’s Sceptre and which at 530 carats is the
largest flawless cut diamond in the world, and the Second Star of Africa, a
317 carat polished diamond which forms the centrepiece of the Imperial State
Crown.

The Cullinan Mine is renowned as a source of large, high-quality gem diamonds,
including Type II stones, as well as being the world’s most important source
of very rare blue diamonds.

Many of the most famous diamonds in the world herald from the Cullinan Mine
and it continues to produce world-class diamonds under Petra’s stewardship.
Notable diamonds historically produced from the Cullinan Mine include:
* the Premier Rose (353 carats rough);
* the Niarchos (426 carats rough);
* the De Beers Centenary (599 carats rough);
* the Golden Jubilee (755 carats rough); and
* the Taylor-Burton diamond (69 carats polished). 
More recently, remarkable diamonds recovered by Petra at the Cullinan Mine
include:
* the Cullinan Heritage (507 carats rough white diamond), sold for US$35.3
million in 2010;
* the Blue Moon of Josephine (29 carats rough blue diamond), sold for US$25.6
million in 2014;
* the Cullinan Dream (122 carats rough blue diamond), sold for US$25.3 million
in 2016; and
* the Legacy of the Cullinan Diamond Mine (424 carats rough white diamond),
sold for just under US$15 million in May 2019.
The unique geology of the Cullinan kimberlite pipe means that the majority of
its diamonds are aged between 3.2 and 1.1 billion years old – spanning a
time in the Earth’s history from before the formation of the first major
continents to the beginnings of multicellular life. However, Type IIb blue
diamonds are so rare that their age has not been established. Recent studies
on minerals trapped inside these diamonds imply that they are amongst the
deepest-formed diamonds ever found, created at depths in excess of 500km below
the Earth’s surface. The boron that gives their blue colour has been linked
to seawater suggesting that these diamonds are a record of rocks from the
ocean floor that have been transported to the lower mantle by plate tectonics,
where these diamonds formed under conditions of extreme pressure and
temperature.

More information on the Cullinan Mine’s unique heritage can be found at

https://www.petradiamonds.com/about-us/our-heritage/.

The Cullinan Mine is a significant employer in South Africa, with a workforce
encompassing over 1,300 employees and over 200 contractors. It plays an active
role in its local communities, with a particular focus on improving education
standards, supporting small to medium sized enterprises and addressing other
needs deemed to be most critical to its stakeholders.

About blue diamonds

Blue diamonds are one of nature’s most special treasures. They are so rare
that there are no official statistics on their recovery, however the Cullinan
Mine in South Africa is known as the world’s most important source.

True miracles of nature, the captivating blue colour is produced by the
presence of the trace element boron within the stone’s carbon structure
during its formation deep within the Earth’s mantle.

Virtually every blue diamond described by the GIA Gem Trade Laboratory as
“blue” is classified as a Type IIb diamond. Type II diamonds contain no
detectable nitrogen in their chemical structure and tend to display
exceptional transparency. Type IIb diamonds are unique in a number of their
gemmological properties, such as their ability to conduct electricity and
phosphoresce to short-wave UV. No known laboratory-grown or treated blue
diamond displays the combination of electrical conductivity and
phosphorescence seen in naturally occurring blues.

High quality blue diamonds command the very highest values, with the 12 carat
polished Blue Moon of Josephine (cut from a 29 carat rough blue diamond from
the Cullinan Mine) selling for US$48.5 million in 2015, representing a
remarkable +US$4 million per carat (US$20 million per gram), which remains the
world record price per carat ever paid for a diamond.



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