On July 27, 2022, The Australian Lukapa Diamond Mining Company announced that it had mined a very rare pure pink diamond at the Lulo Mine, the most diamond-rich region in northeast Angola, Africa, weighing 170 carats and reaching a Type IIa grade of purity, and named it Lulo Rose. Although Lulo Rose still needs to be cut, polished and other processes to achieve its true artistic value, and will lose 50% of its weight during processing, Lulo Rose is still one of the largest pink diamonds ever discovered by humans, and the largest pink diamond found in nearly 300 years.
Thanks to the presence of the Lulo mine, Angola became one of the top ten diamond producers in the world. According to public information, the Lulo diamond mine has mined two of the largest diamonds ever found in Angola, one of which is a 404-carat transparent diamond, and according to data released by Lukapa Diamond Company, 27 diamonds over 100 carats have been found at the mine.
Raw diamond ore
In recent years, the average annual production of diamonds in the world is 120 to 130 million carats, the annual output value is about 7 billion US dollars, most of the diamonds consumed by people are mainly colorless diamonds, and colored diamonds such as pink, blue, and green are rare and account for very little in the world diamond market.
So, how are fancy color diamonds formed?
The atomic structure of masonry
Diamonds are formed under high heat and pressure deep in the earth's crust, and a diamond is initially just a group of carbon atoms that crystallize over time. Until they were discovered, diamonds were stored deep in the depths of the earth for most of the time. Like transparent and colorless diamonds, fancy color diamonds were conceived in the depths of the earth between 900 million and 3.2 billion years ago, and were formed by high temperatures and pressures. Fancy color diamonds are also made up of carbon atoms almost exclusively, but if a small number of other atoms are added to every million carbon atoms, or due to structural defects, it is possible to change the diamond from colorless to colored.
Why is pink diamond one of the rarest fancy color diamonds?
Pink diamonds
Although most diamond colors can be explained by scientific methods, such as light blue, bright blue diamonds because of the absorption of trace amounts of boron during the formation process, the diamond appears blue. But the origin of the color of pink diamonds has always puzzled scientists. Scientists believe that the hue of pink diamonds is caused by plastic deformation, which is the reaction of diamonds to extreme natural pressures when buried deep in the earth. This means that pink is not produced during diamond formation, making pink diamonds one of the rarest fancy color diamonds. For example, in 2017, the 59.6 ct Pink Star sold for $71.2 million at an auction in Hong Kong, China, the highest-priced diamond ever sold.
Trivia: The Cullinan Diamond, the world's largest diamond
Cullinan 1st to 9th Diamonds
The Cullinan Diamond is the largest natural rough diamond ever discovered by humans, weighing 3106 carats, equivalent to 621.2 grams, and was discovered at the Cullinan Mine in South Africa on January 26, 1905, because the owner of the masonry was "Thomas Cullinan", hence the name "Cullinan Masonry".
The Sceptre of the King of England
Subsequently, the South African government gave the Cullinan diamond as a birthday gift to the then King Edward VII of the United Kingdom. In the United Kingdom it was cut into 9 large and many small diamonds, 9 of which were named Cullinan I.-IX., which were collected by the British Royal Family. Cullinan I is the largest, weighing 530.4 carats (106.08 grams), also known as the Star of Great Africa, and is embedded in the scepter of the King of England.
The author | Jiang Dandan
Source| selected works submitted by the Second Science Popularization Essay Contest in Zhengzhou
The views | the statement are solely those of the author and do not represent the position of this number