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MOSCOW, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Russian state-controlled diamond
producer Alrosa will offer a rare 242-carat rough
diamond - one of the biggest gem-quality stones it has mined
this century - for sale at a Dubai auction on March 22, the
company said on Friday.
The crystal-clear diamond is the size of a small egg.
Alrosa, the world's largest producer of rough diamonds, competes
with Anglo-American unit De Beers.
"Rough diamonds, which potentially allow for cutting a
polished diamond larger than 100 carats, are extremely rare in
nature. Even less often are such gems tendered," Evgeny Agureev,
Alrosa's head of sales, said in a statement.
Alrosa last offered a rough diamond of such a size at open
auction five years ago. Russian law states that the miner must
first offer its rough diamonds larger than 50 carats to the
Gokhran state repository.
The diamond was held back until now to mark Alrosa's 100th
international auction.
The auction price will start from $2 million.
(Reporting by Polina Devitt; editing by Alexander Marrow and
Mike Collett-White)
