25.5 carat blue diamond sells for US$16.9 million

Petra Diamonds Limited

("Petra" or the "Company")

25.5 carat blue diamond sells for US$16.9 million

Petra Diamonds Limited announces that the exceptional 25.5 carat blue diamond recovered from the Cullinan mine in South Africa in April has today been sold, following a highly competitive sales process, for US$16,910,180 (US$663,144 per carat).

Johan Dippenaar, CEO of Petra, commented:

"We are delighted to have concluded such a successful sales process for this important blue diamond. The process was highly competitive in terms of bids received, due to the incredible rarity of a blue stone of such size and quality. This result further serves to highlight the Cullinan mine's unique position as the world's most important source of blue diamonds."

Photos of the 25.5 carat blue can be viewed on the following link at the Company's website:  http://www.petradiamonds.com/media/image-library/diamonds.aspx. 

For further information, please contact:

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About Petra Diamonds Limited

Petra Diamonds is a leading independent diamond mining group and an increasingly important supplier of rough diamonds to the international market. The Company has interests in eight producing mines: seven in South Africa (Finsch, Cullinan, Koffiefontein, Kimberley Underground, Helam, Sedibeng and Star) and one in Tanzania (Williamson). It also maintains an exploration programme in Botswana.

Petra offers an exceptional growth profile, with a core objective to steadily increase annual production to 5 million carats by FY 2019. The Group has a major resource base in excess of 300 million carats.

Petra conducts all operations according to the highest ethical standards and will only operate in countries which are members of the Kimberley Process. Petra is quoted with a premium listing on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange under the ticker 'PDL' and is a member of the FTSE 250.

For more information, visit the Company's website at www.petradiamonds.com 

About the Cullinan mine

Many of the world's most magnificent gems have been recovered at Cullinan, including the world's largest gem diamond on record - the Cullinan at 3,106 carats rough. This iconic stone was cut into the two most important diamonds which form part of the Crown Jewels in the Tower of London - the First Star of Africa, which is mounted at the top of the Sovereign's Sceptre and which at 530 carats is the largest flawless cut diamond in the world, and the Second Star of Africa, a 317 carat polished diamond which forms the centrepiece of the Imperial State Crown.

Cullinan is renowned as a source of large diamonds and frequently yields diamonds greater than 10 carats. Furthermore, it has produced over 750 stones weighing more than 100 carats, 130 stones weighing more than 200 carats, and around a quarter of all diamonds weighing more than 400 carats.

Cullinan is also renowned as the world's most important source of blue diamonds, providing the collection of 11 rare blues which were displayed in 2000 at London's Millennium Dome alongside the Millennium Star. Famous larger blues recovered at Cullinan include the fancy vivid blue 'Heart of Eternity' (27 carats polished), the fancy vivid blue 'Star of Josephine' (26 carats polished) and an unnamed 39.2 carat rough blue which was recovered and sold in 2008.

Other notable diamonds historically produced from Cullinan include the Golden Jubilee (the world's largest cut diamond at 545 carats), the Premier Rose (353 carats rough), the Niarchos (426 carats rough), the De Beers Centenary (599 carats rough), the Golden Jubilee (755 carats rough) and the famous Taylor-Burton diamond (69 carats polished). More recently, the Cullinan Heritage (507 carats rough) was recovered by Petra and sold for US$35.3 million in February 2010, being the highest price on record for a rough diamond.

Cullinan is based 37km north east of Pretoria in South Africa's Gauteng province.