"Highly Unusual" 0.45-ct Purple Diamond Recovered at Diavik
June 20, 25
(IDEX Online) - Rio Tinto has unearthed a highly unusual 0.45-carat purple diamond at its Diavik mine in Canada's Northwest Territories.
The mine, slated for closure next year, produces mostly white diamonds, and occasional yellows (less than 1 per cent), but this is the first purple of significant size since operations began in January 2003.
In a Facebook post, Rio Tinto said: "We recently had a unique discovery at Diavik - a rare purple diamond coming in at 0.45 carats.
"Diavik diamonds are typically white, so this came as a surprise. The purple colour likely comes from a trace element such as hydrogen or a twist in the crystal lattice structure of the diamond."
It said the diamond is a "makeable", which means it will likely be cut into a single diamond.
The purple diamond follows the discovery in April of an "exceptional" 158.20-carat yellow diamond at Diavik.
Diavik is renowned for producing some of the largest and most notable colored diamonds in Canadian history, such as the 552.74-carat yellow diamond (the largest ever found in North America) and the 187.7-carat Diavik Foxfire (also a yellow diamond), but never before a notable purple diamond of significant size.
Rio Tinto reported a $127m loss for 2024 at Diavik, its only remaining diamond mine after the closure of Argyle, in Australia. It said weak market conditions had led to "fixed cost inefficiencies".
Pic courtesy Rio Tinto.