Rare pink diamond unearthed in Angola may be largest found in 300 years

LONDON -- A rare pink diamond has been unearthed in Angola and is claimed to be one of the largest ever recovered in the world.

The 170-carat precious stone, called the "Lulo Rose," was found at the Lulo alluvial mine in Angola's diamond-rich Lunda Norte region, according to a press release from the mine's Australia-based owner, the Lucapa Diamond Company.

Lucapa said the Lulo Rose is believed to be the biggest pink diamond recovered in the last 300 years and the fifth-largest diamond ever discovered at the Lulo alluvial mine, where the stones are extracted from a riverbed. It's the 27th diamond of 100 carats or more to have been found at the mine, according to the company.

The two largest diamonds ever recovered in Angola were previously found at the same mine, with the biggest being a 404-carat clear diamond, according to Lucapa, which is now searching for the mine's kimberlite pipes, or underground deposits that would be the main source of the stones.

"Lulo is an exceptional alluvial resource and is truly a gift. We are once again made very proud by yet another historic recovery," Lucapa's CEO and managing director Stephen Wetherall said in a statement Wednesday. "We too look forward to our partnership progressing its exploration effort, where we are now bulk sampling the priority kimberlites, in search for the primary kimberlite sources of these exceptional and high-value diamonds."

The rare colored gemstone will be sold via international tender by Angola's state-owned diamond marketing company, Sodiam.

Angola is among the world's top ten producers of diamonds. Only one in 10,000 diamonds found are colored, according to the Gemological Institute of America, a California-based nonprofit that researches gemology.

"This record and spectacular pink diamond recovered from Lulo continues to showcase Angola as an important player on the world stage for diamond mining and demonstrates the potential and rewards for commitment and investment in our growing diamond mining industry," Angolan Minister of Mineral Resources, Petroleum and Gas Diamantino Azevedo said in a statement Wednesday.