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Earth’s Billion-Year Secret Unearthed: 42-Carat Diamond Discovery Shocks Experts

A historic natural blue diamond from South Africa’s iconic Cullinan Mine captures global scientific and luxury attention

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A rare and fascinating discovery has caught the attention of the world. A natural blue diamond weighing 41.82 carats has been found at the Cullinan Mine in South Africa, one of the most famous diamond mines in history. The diamond was discovered by Petra Diamonds, a South African mining company known for uncovering some of the world’s most exceptional stones.

For readers unfamiliar with the mine, the Cullinan Mine has a legendary reputation. It is the same mine that produced the original Cullinan Diamond, the largest rough diamond ever found, parts of which are now set in the British Crown Jewels. Discoveries from this mine have shaped global diamond history for more than a century.

This newly found blue diamond stands out not just because of its size, but because of its deep natural colour and clarity. Blue diamonds are among the rarest diamonds on earth. Even more unusual is finding a stone where size, colour and clarity come together so perfectly. Experts believe diamonds like this often go on to become historic jewels or prized museum pieces.

A Jewellery expert and author said, “The discovery of a 41.82-carat natural blue diamond at the Cullinan Mine is a rare and globally significant event. Combining exceptional size, vivid blue colour, and high clarity—an exceedingly uncommon alignment—this Type IIb diamond stands out as both a historic gemstone and a scientific marvel. Such discoveries reinforce South Africa’s legacy of extraordinary diamond finds and capture the imagination of collectors, museums, and the global luxury world.”

What makes blue diamonds especially fascinating is how they are formed. Their colour comes from tiny traces of boron that enter the crystal structure deep inside the earth. These diamonds are created billions of years below the surface under intense pressure and heat, making each stone a natural wonder shaped long before human civilisation began.

For Indian audiences, this discovery holds special meaning. India has a deep historical connection with diamonds, from the legendary Golconda mines to its position today as one of the world’s largest jewellery markets. Rare natural diamonds continue to hold emotional and cultural value for Indian consumers who see them as symbols of legacy, permanence, and artisanship.

As this 42-carat blue diamond begins its journey from the mine to a possible polished masterpiece, it has already secured its place as one of the most talked about diamond discoveries in recent times. It serves as a reminder that some of the world’s greatest treasures are still hidden beneath the earth, waiting to be found.

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DiamondBuzz

De Beers Group Sets Out Portfolio and Organisational Actions to Support Long-Term Value Creation

Company outlines strategic cost optimisation, portfolio streamlining and operational changes to strengthen resilience while positioning for long-term growth in the natural diamond industry.

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De Beers Group is advancing delivery of its business streamlining by setting out a number of planned portfolio and organisational changes to ensure an efficient cost base that strengthens resilience in the near-term while enhancing future competitiveness and retaining optionality as industry conditions improve.

Since 2024, De Beers has been streamlining its business in line with its Origins strategy to reduce costs, divest non-core assets and prioritise investment in activities that create the most value. Significant progress has been made, with more than $100 million of annual overhead costs removed from the business, the sale or closure of a number of non-core assets and significant capital and cost reconfigurations to asset expansion projects.

Simultaneously, De Beers has reinvested in natural diamond category marketing to support the industry’s efforts to grow natural diamond demand, launching new large-scale campaigns and collaborating with key stakeholders across the value chain to foster industry-wide investment. Global consumer demand for natural diamond jewellery returned to growth in 2025, while natural diamond sales increased across US independent jewellers in 2025 and into Q1 2026, led by higher value diamonds and those promoted by De Beers’ Desert Diamonds marketing campaign.

On the supply side, global rough diamond production is now decreasing, with several producers closing mines during 2026. Whilst the increasing rarity of diamonds and the emerging signs of improvement in consumer demand are likely to support longer-term value creation, rough diamond trading conditions are expected to remain challenging in the near-term due to cyclical and industry-specific factors.

Consistent with recent actions to improve business resilience, De Beers intends to pause production at the Venetia mine in South Africa for two years to reduce costs while also rephasing capital expenditure on its underground project. This will involve critical infrastructure investment to enhance the capacity and efficiency of the mine, with the intention to support future production growth as business and industry conditions improve.

De Beers is engaging with stakeholders in accordance with relevant requirements and the company’s values as it moves through this process, and will both support impacted employees and continue to invest in its community and Social and Labour Plan commitments.

This proposed action at Venetia Mine follows the decision earlier this year to pause the Tuzo Phase 3 expansion project at the Gahcho Kué Mine in Canada.

In parallel, De Beers plans to reconfigure its global operating model to refocus and prioritise resources on the core operational businesses and reduce its central corporate cost base.

Al Cook, CEO of De Beers Group, said:

“In line with our commitment to focus and streamline our business, we are making a number of changes to De Beers to ensure greater business resilience in the near-term, while supporting long-term value creation. We recognise the protracted challenging conditions as the diamond industry evolves, though we are encouraged by signs of consumer demand growth in the US and beyond, particularly in higher quality diamonds.

Global rough diamond supply is falling, bringing more support to the market. The changes we are making to our business are focused on underpinning our efficiency now and into the future, favourably positioning De Beers in its leadership role.”

De Beers Group will maintain current production levels through its other operations, and previous production guidance remains unchanged.

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JewelBuzz is Asia’s First Digital Jewellery Media & India’s No.1 B2B Jewellery Magazine, published by AM Media House. Since 2016, we’ve been the trusted source for jewellery news, market trends, trade insights, exhibitions, podcasts, and brand stories, connecting jewellers, retailers, and industry professionals worldwide.

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