Frontier Diamonds just unearthed this 111.5 carat diamond in South Africa (see picture above).

Investors loved the news, sending shares up 16 per cent to 5.8c on Wednesday morning.

It’s the biggest sparkler so far recovered from Frontier’s Bellsbank project in central South Africa. Up until now the biggest stone was only 1.45 carats.

The value of the diamond is not yet known. Frontier says it still needs to get an independent valuation or sale price.

The diamond was recovered during processing of material from the kimberlite at the Bellsbank project and some tailings from the nearby Sedibeng mine, Frontier (ASX:FDX) told investors this morning.

Kimberlite is a dark-coloured, heavy rock that contains diamonds and is sometimes found in valuable “pipes” in areas such as the Kimberley district of South Africa.

Kimberlite is named after Kimberley, which was the site of a diamond rush in the late 1800s following the discovery of an 83.5-carat diamond called the Star of South Africa.

Frontier Diamonds (ASX:FDX) shares since listing in January.
Frontier Diamonds (ASX:FDX) shares since listing in January.

Frontier’s Bellsbank site is 10km from the 74 per cent owned Sedibeng mine, which lies about 40km north of Delportshoop in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa.

The processing was part of a purging process to prepare the newly built dual-purpose tailings plant for processing the Bellsbank bulk sample.

This means the true origin of the diamond could not be confirmed and further testing will be done to determine whether it is from Bellsbank or Sedibeng, Frontier said.