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Canadian Diamond Mines Produce Two Sizeable Yellows

The Canadian Diamond Mines produce two sizeable yellows. Two mining companies in Canada recently found big rough yellow diamonds. One of them could be the largest fancy vivid yellow diamond ever found in Canada.

Oct 10, 2022164 Shares2.5K ViewsWritten By: Johnny K.Reviewed By: Luke Williams
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  1. The Largest Diamond Ever Discovered In Canada
  2. Rough Diamonds' Origins, Including The Recently Discovered Fancy Yellow Diamond

The Canadian Diamond Mines produce two sizeable yellows. Two mining companies in Canada recently found big rough yellow diamonds. One of them could be the largest fancy vivid yellow diamondever found in Canada.

Last month, the Arctic Canadian Diamond Company said that on August 25, it found a 71.26-carat octahedron in the "Misery Pipe" at the Ekati Mine in the Northwest Territories. The "Misery Pipe" is known for making yellow diamonds.

The company said that experts in the field have confirmed that it is likely the largest fancy vivid yellow gemstone ever found in Canada.

The Largest Diamond Ever Discovered In Canada

The biggest diamond ever found in Canada, or anywhere in North America, was a nearly 553-carat yellow stone.

It was found in October 2018 at the Diavik Diamond Mine, which is less than 20 miles from Ekati. Arctic Canadian pointed out that it is not a fancy bright yellow.

(Ekati also produced the 187.8-carat "Foxfire" diamond, which was cut and polished into two stones of 37.87 and 36.8 carats that are also not fancy vivid yellow.)

Arctic Canadian President and CEO Rory Moore said about the 71-carat yellow diamond:

This historic fancy vivid yellow gemstone continues to showcase Canada as a major player on the world stage for diamond mining … This stone is a testament to Ekati’s ability to deliver value now and into the future.- Arctic Canadian President and CEO Rory Moore

The company said that it will eventually sell the stone, but it is still figuring out when and how.

151.6-carat rough yellow diamond from the Gahcho Kué
151.6-carat rough yellow diamond from the Gahcho Kué

The Gahcho Kué Mine, which is owned and run by Mountain Province Diamonds Inc. and De Beers Canada, is where the other big yellow diamond was found.

Mountain Province announced on August 31 that it had found a 151.60-carat octahedron with "exceptional" clarity and color. The mining company did not say exactly what color grade the stone was.

Reid Mackie, Mountain Province's vice president of diamond marketing, said, "This important diamond represents a clear example of the Gahcho Kué Mine’s ability to consistently recover high-quality gems of exceptionally large size,"

"These gems are highly coveted by collectors around the globe not only for their beauty but increasingly, for their Canadian origin."

In September, the 152-carat yellow diamond and more than 90 other rough diamonds from Gahcho Kué weighing 10.8 carats or more were going to be sold at the office of Bonas Group in Antwerp.

As of press time, there was no information about how the sale went.

Rough Diamonds' Origins, Including The Recently Discovered Fancy Yellow Diamond

According to Jeweller Magazine, Ekati was the first diamond mine in Canada, and it has had a reputation for supplying premium rough diamond groupings to markets all over the world for more than 24 years now.

The Australian company Burgundy Diamond Mines (BDM) just recently made public their announcement that they had found the first fancy color diamond at the Ellendale project since operations were resumed there.

The Blina mine, which is located close to the Ellendale site, is where BDM made the discovery of a fancy color yellow diamond weighing 1.51 carats and having an octahedral shape.

The Ellendale Mine was once responsible for the production of approximately half of the world's yellow diamonds; however, the mine's operations were halted in 2015 after the Kimberley Diamond Company filed for voluntary administration.

Early in 2020, BDM made the purchase of leases at Ellendale, with the intention of bringing the mine back to a "fully operational" status by March of 2023.

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