WorldWide Drilling Resource

56 JULY 2014 WorldWide Drilling Resource ® Dealmakers USK Consulting of Johannesburg, South Africa, took delivery of a new 9500 VTR PowerProbe fromAMS, Inc. of American Falls, Idaho. AMS, Inc. Send your deals to: promotions@ worldwidedrillingresource.com Gingerich Well & Pump Services in Kalona, Iowa, purchased this bucket rig from Gus Pech Mfg. Co., Inc. of Le Mars, Iowa. Gus Pech Mfg. Co., Inc. Another Incredible Find for the Cullinan Mine Adapted from Information by Petra Diamonds Limited Petra Diamonds Limited made a re- markable discovery of an exceptional 29.6 carat blue diamond at the Cullinan mine in South Africa. The vivid blue diamond with extraor- dinary saturation, tone, and clarity, has the potential to produce a polished stone of significant value. Blue diamonds are among the rarest and most desirable of all diamonds. The Cullinan mine is one of the important sources of blue diamonds in the world. This stone is one of the most outstanding stones recovered at the mine during Petra's operation. Located at the foothi l ls of the Magaliesberg mountain range, roughly 20 miles northeast of Pretoria in South Africa, Cullinan is among the world's most celebrated diamond mines. The mine’s first historic discovery, in 1905, was the largest rough gem dia- mond ever found at 3106 carats. This beautiful stone was cut into two of the diamonds used in the Crown Jewels lo- cated in the Tower of London; the First Star of Africa, mounted at the top of the Sovereign's Sceptre, which at 530 carats, is the largest, flawless cut diamond in the world; and the Second Star ofAfrica, a 317 carat polished diamond which forms the centerpiece of the Imperial State Crown. The mine is known as a source of large diamonds and often produces dia- monds larger than 10 carats. It has also produced over 750 stones weighing more than 100 carats; 130 stones weighing more than 200 carats; and several weigh- ing more than 400 carats. The Cullinan mine is also famous for providing the collection of 11 rare blue diamonds displayed in 2000 at London's Millennium Dome and included the fancy vivid blue Heart of Eternity diamond with a polished weight of 27 carats. Since Petra acquired the mine in 2008, it has produced the following ex- ceptional blue diamonds: j A 39.9 carat diamond which sold for $8.8 million in 2008. j A 26.6 carat diamond which was polished into a fancy vivid blue and internally flawless 7.0 carat. It sold for $9.49 million at a Sotheby's auction in 2009. At the time, this was the highest price paid for a fancy vivid blue diamond sold at auction. It was renamed the Star of Josephine by its new owner. j A 4.8 carat diamond which sold for $1.45 million in 2012. j A 25.5 carat diamond which sold for $16.9 million in 2013. There are several other notable dia- monds which came from Cullinan mine, including the Premier Rose, the Niarchos, the De Beers Centenary, the Golden Jubilee, and the famous Taylor-Burton diamond. More recently, the Cullinan Heritage was recovered and sold for $35.3 million in February 2010, being the highest price on record for a rough diamond.