With the Argyle closure looming, Ellendale provides hope for Australian coloured diamonds

Western Australia is one step closer to a new source of coloured diamonds, following a significant discovery at the Ellendale diamond field.

India Bore Diamond Holdings revealed it had unearthed a large deposit of rare diamonds on a site which had once produced half the world's supply of fancy yellows.

Ellendale exploration had been mothballed until the recent discovery which targets a riverbed formed some 22 million years ago and is estimated to contain over a million carats of gem-quality diamonds.

Most interesting is that after analysis, the stones appear to display a purple florecence under ultraviolet light, something which only occurs in around 30 per cent of diamonds and a characteristic rarely seen in fancy yellows.

Whilst yellow diamonds are typically valued at up to four times that of a white diamond of a similar size and quality, a pink diamond can reach up 50 times the price.

Alas whilst renewed exploration is very encouraging, it is unlikely that there will ever be another mine that equals the success of the Argyle.

Courtesy Rio Tinto