39 carat blue diamond sold fo

RNS Number : 1522H

Petra Diamonds Ld

31 October 2008

 

31 October 2008

AIM: PDL

Petra Diamonds Limited 

('Petra' or 'the Company')

39 carat blue diamond sold for US$8.8 million

Petra, the international diamond mining group, today announces that the 39.19 carat special blue diamond recently placed on tender in Johannesburg, South Africa, has been sold for US$8.8 million to an undisclosed buyer.

This rare stone was produced from the Cullinan mine in South Africa, which is renowned as the world's only significant source of highly prized blue diamonds. 

Johan Dippenaar, Chief Executive Officer of Petra, commented 'Blue is one of the most rare colours of diamond and this exceptional stone is even more special due to its unusually large size. Diamonds of this nature are true collector's items due to their incredible beauty and scarcity.'

For further information, please contact:
Cathy Malins	Telephone: [phone]
Petra Diamonds, London	[e-mail]
Corporate Communications
Adrian Hadden	Telephone: [phone]
Collins Stewart, London

Media relations:

Julian Walker	Telephone: [phone]
Hogarth Partnership, London	[e-mail]
Charmane Russell	Telephone: [phone]
Russell and Associates, Johannesburg	[e-mail]

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About Petra Diamonds

Petra Diamonds is a rapidly growing diamond mining group, focused on the African continent. A number of recent acquisitions have established Petra as one of the world's largest independent diamond groups by resources, with a total resource base of 265 million carats, worth US$27.3 billion. Petra's objective is to continue to grow production, developing its stature as a leading diamond producer in all of the countries in which it operates.

In South Africa, Petra has five producing mines - Cullinan, Koffiefontein, Helam, Sedibeng and Star. The Group has also reached agreement to acquire two further assets from De Beers - the Kimberley Underground mines, also in South Africa, and the Williamson mine in Tanzania. The Group is on track to increase its annual production from 200,000 carats in the year to June 2008 to over 1 million carats in the year to June 2009. Complementing the Group's production is an exploration and development portfolio spread across the highly prospective diamond fields of Angola, Botswana and Sierra Leone. 

Petra will only commit to working in countries which are members of the Kimberley Process and shareholders can remain assured that Petra's diamonds will only ever be 100% conflict free. Petra is listed in London under the share code PDL and is AIM's largest diamond group by market capitalisation.

For further information, please review www.petradiamonds.com 

 

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