A real gem: A mining company in Angola has unearthed what is believed to be the largest pink diamond in 300 years.

The gem weighs 170 carats (34 grams), according to the mining company Lucapa Diamond Company, which gave the diamond the name Lulo Rose to match the place where it was found.

The Lulo mine is a "special treasure trove and gift".

The diamonds there have been washed up by rivers from their volcanic deposits deep in the earth.

The Australian company has already found 26 diamonds in the mine, each weighing more than 100 carats.

Claudia Bröll

Political correspondent for Africa based in Cape Town.

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Colored diamonds are extremely rare.

The prices for such rarities have skyrocketed over the past ten years.

Additionally, according to the company, the Lulo Rose is a Type IIa diamond.

These are the purest specimens.

Many famous diamonds such as the Cullinan or the Lesedi La Rona - at around 1100 carats one of the largest rough diamonds ever found in the world - are of this type.

The company did not provide any information on the possible value of the Lulo Rose.

First, the stone must be analyzed in detail.

The value of a diamond depends on its size, colour, clarity and finally the cut.

High prices on the international market

Cut colored diamonds can fetch prices like works of art, causing a stir at international auctions.

In April, the De Beers Cullinan Blue Diamond sold for $57.5 million at a Sotheby's Hong Kong auction.

The rough diamond was found in South Africa's Cullinan mine in 2021.

The Oppenheimer Blue had achieved the same price at a Christie's auction five years previously, setting a record – but only for one year: in 2017 the Pink Star, also from South Africa, changed hands for $71.2 million.

The Angolan government was also pleased with the latest find.

It shows that there is great potential in the diamond industry and that continuous investments are worthwhile, said Mining Minister Diamantino Azevedo.

After oil, diamonds play an important role in the country's economy.

Angola is currently the fourth largest diamond producer in the world.

The Lulo Rose is expected to be sold at an international auction organized by Angola's state diamond marketing company, Sodiam.

The country's largest diamond to date is the 4th February Stone, weighing 404 carats.

It was also found in the Lulo mine in 2016 and sold for $16 million.

The company now wants to find the source where the many unusual diamonds originally came from.