Pink diamond found in Angola is the largest in 300 years

Abstract

A fabulous 170-carat pink diamond discovered in Angola, Africa has been dubbed the "Lulo Rose." It's the largest pink diamond found in 300 years. "Only one in 10,000 diamonds is colored pink. So you're certainly looking at a very rare article when you find a very large pink diamond," Stephen Wetherall, CEO of the Lucapa Diamond Company, told The Associated Press. Lucapa hopes to locate kimberlite pipes, underground deposits that are the main source of diamonds. "We're looking for the kimberlite pipes that brought these diamonds to the surface," Wetherall said. "When you find these high-value large diamonds it certainly elevates the excitement from our perspective in our hunt for the primary source." Because if there's a diamond that large and valuable, what else might be found in the kimberlite pipes of this southwestern African country? While the Lulo Rose is gigantic for a pink diamond, many clear diamonds come in even more jumbo sizes. In some cases, miners displace former inhabitants, and people fight over land and diamonds. As the authors of a study on the environmental impacts of alluvial diamond mining noted, "Before independence, Indigenous people were not allowed to possess diamonds; those caught with diamonds were executed." Diamonds are beautiful, shiny stones.