REG-Petra Diamonds: Sale of 342 carat White & 18 carat Blue Diamonds

Petra DiamondsAnnouncement

25/08/2021 07:05

25 August 2021   LSE: PDL 

Petra Diamonds Limited

("Petra" or the "Company" or the “Group”)

Sale of 342 carat White Diamond and 18 carat Blue Diamond

from the Cullinan Diamond Mine for a total of US$13.5 million

Petra Diamonds Limited announces that the 342.92 carat Type IIa white diamond
(previously announced on 28 July 2021) and an 18.30 carat Type IIb blue
diamond, both recovered at the Cullinan Diamond Mine in South Africa, have
been sold into a partnership with Stargems (Pty) Ltd (“Stargems”). Petra
will receive an upfront payment of US$10.0 million for the 342.92 carat stone
and US$3.5 million for the 18.30 carat stone, as well as retaining a 50%
interest in the profit uplift of the polished proceeds of both diamonds, after
costs.

Stargems is a Johannesburg-based subsidiary of Stargems Group, an
international and vertically integrated diamond company, and is a diamond
beneficiation licencee, allowing for the two diamonds to be cut and polished
in South Africa.

Richard Duffy, Chief Executive Officer, commented:

“These two diamonds are wonderful examples of the very high quality and rare
white and blue diamonds that are so well known from the Cullinan Diamond Mine.
We are delighted that both stones will be manufactured in South Africa and it
is fitting that we will be working with Stargems, who specialise in the
sourcing and supply of the finest diamonds to customers across the world.”

Shailesh Javeri, Chairman of Stargems Group, commented:

“It is with great honour that we have entered into a partnership arrangement
with Petra on these two diamonds from the world-renowned Cullinan Diamond
Mine. The stones will be beneficiated in South Africa at our Stargems cutting
factory in Johannesburg and we look forward to working closely with Petra
during the manufacturing process to reveal the eventual polished gems.”

Photos of the 342.92 carat diamond can be viewed at:

www.petradiamonds.com/media/image-library/diamonds.

~ Ends ~

For further information, please contact:

Petra Diamonds, London                            
            Telephone: +44 20 7494 8203

Cathy Malins  
                                               
            investorrelations@petradiamonds.com

Marianna
Bowes                                                        

Des Kilalea     

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. 244 million carats, which supports the potential for long-life
operations.

Petra strives to operate 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'. The Company’s US$337 million notes due in
2026 are listed on the Irish Stock Exchange and admitted to trading on the
Global Exchange Market. For more information, visit www.petradiamonds.com.

Notes to Editors

About the Cullinan Diamond Mine

Located at the foothills of the Magaliesberg mountain range, 37 kilometres
north-east of Pretoria in South Africa, the Cullinan Diamond 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 Diamond 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.

Type II diamonds contain no detectable nitrogen in their chemical structure
and tend to display exceptional transparency. Type IIa stones are generally
‘colourless’, meaning they can be the purest form of white possible. Type
IIb stones contain significant amounts of boron which imparts a blue or grey
colour – these stones are exceedingly rare and are believed to account for
~0.1% of all natural diamonds.

Many of the most famous diamonds in the world herald from the Cullinan Diamond
Mine and it continues to produce world-class diamonds under Petra’s
stewardship. Notable diamonds historically produced from the 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 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;
* the Legacy of the Cullinan Diamond Mine (424 carats rough white diamond),
sold for just under US$15 million in May 2019;
* the Letlapa Tala Collection (a collection of five blue diamonds of high
quality and clarity) sold for US$40.36 million in November 2020;
* a 299 carat white diamond sold for US$12.18 million in March 2021; and
* an exceptional 39.34 carat blue diamond sold for US$40.18 million in July
2021, representing a remarkable US$1.0 million per carat. This was the most
valuable diamond sold in Petra’s history and is believed to be the most
valuable rough stone per carat ever sold (though since not all rough diamond
sales are publicly disclosed, this cannot be established with certainty).
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 Diamond Mine’s unique heritage can be found
at

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

The Cullinan Diamond Mine is a significant employer in South Africa, with a
workforce encompassing over 1,200 employees and just under 300 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 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 an
extraordinary +US$4 million per carat (US$20 million per gram), which remains
the world record price per carat ever paid for a diamond.



Copyright (c) 2021 PR Newswire Association,LLC. All Rights Reserved