Before now the largest diamond in the world was the Cullinan diamond. This diamond was found in the British province Transvaal (nowadays the Republic of South Africa) in 1905. The weight of the ex-champion Cullinan is 3106 carat (621.2 gr.). The diamond was named for Sir Thomas Cullinan, who had discovered the Premier in Transvaal three years earlier. The diamond amazes not only by its size but also its cleanliness, absence of mineral inclusions, cracks, and bubbles.



The Cullinan diamond was presented to the reigning British monarch, King Edward VII, in 1907. It's interesting that diamond represents a splinter (about 1/3 part) of larger diamond, but it haven't found till now.

The diamond was cut into 9 large stones and about 100 smaller ones by I.J. Asscher and Company of Amsterdam. The Cullinan diamond decorates the brow of the Imperial State Crown of Great Britain about one hundred years.

Nowadays, the 7000-carat diamond (1.5 kg) was found in the same country. Under armed guard the new diamond will be delivered in Johannesburg, the capital of the Republic of South Africa, where diamond will be determined its exact weight and the size with a help of special technical equipment.

What company possesses this precious find? It is not yet announced. However, during all last century the leadership in world production of diamonds belonged to giant De Beers who supervised about 65 % of all diamond market till now.

Today the Republic of South Africa takes fifth place in extraction of rough diamonds in the world, giving place only to Australia, Botswana, Russia and Congo.

Russia also does not giving in a diamond race. So, the diamond-mining company Alrosa has a quarter of world's diamond mining.

In the beginning of August a big deposit of rough diamonds was discovered in Yakutia. Russia's diamond giant Alrosa has discovered a big deposit of rough diamonds in Yakutia. The worth of its reserves is estimated at $3.5 billion. The deposit of such extent was last discovered in Yakutia ten years ago.

The new Verkhne-Munskoe deposit unites three kimberlite pipes located 130 kilometers from Udachninsky Mining and Processing Plant of Alrosa. The deposit is forecasted to last for 25 years, yielding from 1.2 million tons to 2 million tons of stones.

In terms of geological survey, Alrosa has outmatched the best indicators of former Soviet Union, the company announced in the news release of April 2007. Nowadays, for instance, Alrosa is setting up the 4th exploration expedition in the northern part of Yakutia's diamond province.

It is mentioned that Russia had became the first country in volume of export of rough diamonds in 2005. To tell the truth, the Russian Federation had taken the top position only by physical volume of the diamonds taken out abroad. The leader in the finance of export had become the Botswana (25 % of world's diamond export). It is supposed that in 2007 Russia will increase considerably in turnover because of the opening of new diamond fields.