Helga Pombal: Angola's Stardiam finds solution to the threat posed by lab-grown diamonds

Stardiam manager of production Helga Pombal told Rough&Polished's Mathew Nyaungwa on the sidelines of the Angola International Diamond Conference that lab-grown diamonds are creating a parallel market for more accessible stones, combined with lower...

11 november 2024

Ellah Muchemwa: ADPA to launch Africa's first diamond mining standard next year

The African Diamond Producers Association (ADPA), which is based in Luanda, Angola, and represents the interests of mainly African diamond producers and those with the potential to produce diamonds, will next year launch the Sustainable Development...

04 november 2024

Dmitry Fedorov: I want our jewelry to be displayed at a museum in the future

Dmitry Fedorov is the founder of the eponymous jewelry house. His main focus is the creation of Orthodox-inspired premium luxury jewelry of high artistic merit. He told Rough&Polished about his journey in the jewelry industry, about choosing the ‘Orthodox...

28 october 2024

Responsible business practices ‘no longer optional’, says WDC President Feriel Zerouki

The president of the World Diamond Council takes time out of her busy schedule to tell Rough&Polished readers about the critical work of the WDC. Zerouki, the first female present of the body, which includes all the important industry organizations among...

14 october 2024

James Campbell: Botswana Diamonds optimistic as it enters uncharted territory of using AI for mineral exploration

London-listed Botswana Diamonds has expressed optimism about the company’s use of artificial intelligence (AI) to scan the exploration database in Botswana to look for new mineralised deposits. Company managing director James Campbell told Rough...

07 october 2024

Nature gave Russia a soccer ball shaped diamond

09 july 2018

ALROSA, the largest mining company in the world, announced the recovery of a diamond in the shape of a soccer ball. The stone was mined on July 4 at Karinsky-1 pipe in Arkhangelskaya region. It was developed by ALROSA’s subsidiary Severalmaz. The diamond weights 0.5 ct and reaches 3.5 x 3.2 mm in size.

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Image credit: ALROSA


“Despite its small size, this is a unique founding. Nature creates different strange forms, but we recovered a soccer ball shaped diamond for the first time,” said ALROSA CEO Sergey Ivanov.
The Governor of Arkhangelsky region, where the stone was recovered, suggested that they name the stone “Igor Akinfeev” to honor the goalkeeper of Russian National Football team. “Noteworthy is that the diamond was found on the eve of the quarter-finals, which our team reached thanks largely to a brilliant game of Igor Akinfeev,” said the Head of the region Igor Orlov.