Stellar Diamonds plc recovered a 55.64-carat diamond from its Baoulé kimberlite in Guinea, reports IDEX Online News. The stone is the largest yet recovered from Baoulé. It is thought to be unusual because of an apparent low-quality coating that may mask a higher quality diamond within its interior.

 Stellar’s trial mining of the kimberlite pipe has yielded a total of 8,043 carats to date – at an average grade of 12.7 carats per hundred tons (cpht).The company believes that the kimberlite is a source of large stones, having already recovered several gem quality diamonds of more than 12 carats.

 “We are extremely encouraged to have recovered this 55-carat stone as it confirms that the Baoulé pipe is a possible source of the large diamonds which have been mined in alluvial deposits downstream…for many years, several of which have been 100+ carats in size,” said Stellar chief executive Karl Smithson. “With approximately 63 percent of our trial mining and processing at Baoulé now complete, subject to the company having sufficient working capital, we are currently on track to finalise the trial mining and processing of 100,000 tonnes in Q3.”