Massive uncut diamond fetches ‘record $63 million’

Canadian mining company Lucara Diamond on Monday announced the sale of a huge 813 carat diamond for a record $63 million (55 million euros), ahead of the sale of an even bigger one.

Canadian mining company Lucara Diamond announced on Monday the sale of a huge 813 carat diamond for a record $63 million (55 million euros), ahead of the sale of an even bigger one.

This handout photo courtesy of the Lucara Diamond Corporation in Vancouver, BC, Canada shows the 813 carat "Constellation" diamond. (AFP)

The sale of the massive “Constellation” diamond was “the highest price ever achieved for a rough diamond, breaking all records,” CEO William Lamb said in a statement.

The name of the buyer for the diamond, discovered in Botswana, was not divulged, nor the conditions of the sale overseen by Nemesis International.

The record is unlikely to last very long. Lucara is preparing to auction an even larger 1,109 carat diamond at Sotheby’s in London on June 29.

Lucara shares had soared by 8.58% by mid-afternoon on the Stockholm market. The key shareholder in the Canadian company is the Swedish Lundin family.