Petra Diamonds discovers 232-carat white gem larger than a strawberry in South Africa

Petra’s share price sparkled 6 per cent brighter on the news

The 232-carat white diamond (Petra Diamonds )

A diamond larger than a strawberry has been found at the world’s most-famous diamond mine in South Africa.

Miner Petra Diamonds today revealed the discovery of an “exceptional”, 232.08 carat white diamond — weighing around 46 grams — the largest found in more than four years.

Petra’s share price sparkled 6 per cent brighter on the news.

The discovery at the Cullinan mine in South Africa is the latest in a long history of large, expensive diamonds found at the site. The most famous, the Cullinan diamond, dug up in 1905, was the largest rough gem diamond ever found at 3106 carats. It was cut in two for the Queen’s Crown Jewels and called the First and Second Star of Africa.

Dmitry Kalachev, an analyst Canaccord Genuity said: “Around a quarter of all the world’s diamonds above 400 carats were recovered from Cullinan.”

He estimated Petra’s latest stone could be valued at more than $12.5 million (£7.7 million).

Petra is also set to sell a rare, 122.5-carat blue diamond it found at the mine in June this week which could set a new record. This follows the sale of its 29.6 carat blue diamond, found in January, which sold for US$25.6 million in February.