First Polished Yellow Diamonds from Naujaat
February 26, 23
(IDEX Online) - The first fancy yellow diamonds from bulk sampling at Canada's Naujaat mine have been cut and polished by Burgundy, in Australia, as part of a partnership.
The high-value gems were recovered by Vancouver-based North Arrow Minerals from kimberlite pipes in Nunavut, in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago.
Two stones - weighing 0.31 carats and 0.21 carats - were test-polished by Burgundy, which has established a dedicated cut and polish facility in Perth, Western Australia. Burgundy also bought the mothballed Ellendale mine, another source of fancy yellow diamonds.
Ken Armstrong, President and CEO of North Arrow, said: "These beautiful 0.31 and 0.21 carat fancy colour diamonds were polished by our partner, Burgundy Diamond Mines, from the biggest, best quality, fancy colour rough diamonds recovered so far from the Naujaat Project.
"The polished yield of both diamonds is approximately 38%, which is a significant improvement over past polishing efforts, and the 0.31 carat stone is well over twice the weight of previous fancy colour polished diamonds from the deposit."
He said the next step would be to have the stones certified as fancy color diamonds by the GIA.
Pic shows the 0.31 carat yellow diamond