Australian mining company finds record-breaking 404-carat diamond

A small West Australian mining firm has found a diamond believed to be the largest discovered by an Australian company, and one worth upwards of 14.2 million U.S dollars.

Local media reported on Tuesday that the Lucapa Diamond Company, based in Perth but operating in the African nation of Angola, found the 404-carat diamond at its Lulo Diamond Project site, with estimates putting it as the 27th largest diamond ever found.

The company's chairman, Miles Kennedy, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that the diamond ticked off a "number of firsts" for diamond exploration.

"When we first looked at the property, 3,000 square km of untouched ground, 700 km inland from the coast, you are talking about a very, very remote area," Kennedy said.

"The results today are a wonderful vindication of eight years of pretty hard work.

"It's the biggest diamond ever recorded from the country of Angola and it's the biggest diamond ever recovered by an Australian diamond miner.

"So, we have hit a number of firsts finding this diamond."

He said the diamond should fetch in excess of 20 million Australian dollars, or almost 15 million U.S dollars.

"We're not used to valuing 400-carat diamonds, but if we look at other diamonds slightly less weight than this, you're looking in the order of 20 million (AUD)," Kennedy said.

The chairman said selling that diamond alone would allow the company to expand its Angola operations. Endit