adminLONDON. — London-listed Petra Diamonds sold a rare blue diamond found at its mine in South Africa for us$27,6 million (R302 million), falling short of the price some analysts had expected it to fetch.
The company recovered the 122,52-carat diamond in June from its Cullinan mine, a site with a long and illustrious history of producing high-value stones.
Petra said the diamond was purchased by a partnership comprising itself and a polishing partner, who wished to remain anonymous.
The diamond miner, which has five mines in South Africa and one in Tanzania, will receive 85 percent of the agreed sale value, or us$23,5 million immediately and upon sale of the polished stone, Petra will receive 15 percent of the proceeds. “While this is less than the us$35 million-us$40 million I had in my figures, given that the company does share in the upside it is not a disastrous number,” Panmure Gordon analyst Alison Turner said.
“Coloured stones are particularly difficult to price, given the intensity of the colour can lift the value by a factor of 10 times relative to an equivalent white,” Turner said.
Petra shares were down 0,61 percent at 195,2 pence at 11:20 SA time on the London Stock Exchange last Tuesday. — Reuters.
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