Alrosa Unearths Holiday-Shaped Rough from Russian Mine

Alrosa has recovered two rough diamonds from its Severalmaz mine in Russia, which it says are shaped in the holiday spirit.

The company discovered both just before the holidays at the processing plant of Severalmaz, located in the Arkhangelsk region of the country, Alrosa said last week. The first diamond, which the company said recalled a Christmas tree ornament, weighs just over 17 carats, while the other is a 2.7-carat rough that “resembles a cute puppy,” the company reported.

The finds followed the discovery of a diamond shaped like “a real Christmas tree” last year, Alrosa said.

This is not the first time Alrosa has found rough that resembled real-life items. In 2018, it unearthed a soccer ball-shaped rough during the World Cup, which took place in Russia that year. In 2019, it recovered a diamond shaped like a fish, which it used to highlight its release of “hundreds of thousands” of fish into rivers in Yakutia and its other mining regions. Last year the company’s Lomonsov deposit yielded a 38-carat “Cloudberry” diamond, which looked like the country’s northern berry, while in 2022, it dug up a 39.98-carat gem-quality butterfly-shaped diamond.

“The Arkhangelsk deposit is unique in that it consists of six kimberlite pipes containing over 250 million tonnes of diamond-bearing ore,” said Ilya Zezin, chief geologist at Severalmaz. “Our diamonds have interesting morphological features and stand out from other deposits with their more rounded shapes and greater number of facets. Severalmaz’s mining operations are distinguished by the discovery of diamonds of rare shapes and colors, which are of not only scientific interest but also aesthetic beauty.”

Image: The “ornament” and “puppy” rough diamonds. (Alrosa)