南非发现一颗29.6克拉蓝钻_文化教育

南非发现一颗29.6克拉蓝钻

文章来源：未知文章作者：enread 发布时间：2014-01-22 07:39 字体： [大中小]　进入论坛

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A rare blue diamond has been discovered in a mine in South Africa.

一颗罕见的蓝钻石在南非一处矿井中被发现。

The "exceptional" 29.6 carat blue diamond is the latest rare stone to be found in the Cullinan mine

The 29.6-carat stone was recovered by Petra Diamonds at its Cullinan mine, about 40km (25 miles) north-east of Pretoria.

"This stone is one of the most exceptional stones recovered at Cullinan during Petra's operation of the mine," the company said.

Petra unearthed¹ a 25.5 carat blue diamond which sold for $16.9m in 2013.

'Class of its own'

The latest discovery is also expected to sell for a high price.

"The stone is an outstanding vivid blue with extraordinary saturation², tone and clarity, and has the potential to yield a polished stone of great value and importance," Petra said in a statement on Tuesday.

Cullinan mine has produced hundreds of large stones and is famed for its production of blue diamonds - among the rarest and most highly coveted³ of all diamonds.

The mine was acquired in 2008 by Petra Diamonds, which also operates in Botswana and Tanzania.

A similar 26.6-carat blue rough diamond discovered by the company in May 2009 was cut into a near perfect stone and fetched just under $10m at a Sotheby's auction⁴.

Another deep-blue diamond from Cullinan was auctioned⁵ for $10.8m in 2012 and set a world record for the value per carat.

In 1905, the renowned⁶ Star of Africa blue diamond - the world's second largest cut diamond - was discovered at the Cullinan mine.

The pear-shaped 530-carat stone was presented to King Edward VII and became part of the British crown jewels.

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收听单词发音

1 unearthed
出土的（考古）
参考例句：
Many unearthed cultural relics are set forth in the exhibition hall. 展览馆里陈列着许多出土文物。 Some utensils were in a state of decay when they were unearthed. 有些器皿在出土时已经残破。

2 saturation
n.饱和(状态)；浸透
参考例句：
The company's sales are now close to saturation in many western countries.这家公司的产品销售量在许多西方国家已接近饱和。 Road traffic has reached saturation point.公路交通已达到饱和点。

3 coveted
adj.令人垂涎的；垂涎的，梦寐以求的v.贪求，觊觎(covet的过去分词)；垂涎；贪图
参考例句：
He had long coveted the chance to work with a famous musician. 他一直渴望有机会与著名音乐家一起工作。 Ther other boys coveted his new bat. 其他的男孩都想得到他的新球棒。来自《简明英汉词典》

4 auction
n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖
参考例句：
They've put the contents of their house up for auction.他们把房子里的东西全都拿去拍卖了。 They bought a new minibus with the proceeds from the auction.他们用拍卖得来的钱买了一辆新面包车。

5 auctioned
v.拍卖( auction的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
It was sad to see all grandmother's lovely things being auctioned off. 眼看着祖母那些可爱的东西全都被拍卖掉，心里真不好受。来自《简明英汉词典》 TV franchises will be auctioned to the highest bidder. 电视特许经营权将拍卖给出价最高的投标人。来自《简明英汉词典》

6 renowned
adj.著名的，有名望的，声誉鹊起的
参考例句：
He is one of the world's renowned writers.他是世界上知名的作家之一。 She is renowned for her advocacy of human rights.她以提倡人权而闻名。

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