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Alrosa Finds Diamond Shaped Like Soccer Ball
Jul 8, 2018 5:20 AM
By Rapaport News
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RAPAPORT... Alrosa has unearthed a rough diamond bearing an uncanny
resemblance to a soccer ball, and with flawless timing: bang in the middle of
the World Cup taking place in Russia.
The miner discovered the 0.50-carat stone at its
Karpinskaya-1 pipe in the Arkhangelsky region last Wednesday, three days before
the Russian national soccer team’s quarterfinal against Croatia. Alrosa CEO
Sergey Ivanov said he hoped it was a good omen ahead of the game, though it
didn’t work: Russia lost in a penalty shoot-out and exited the tournament.
“Nature creates a lot of different shapes, sometimes
unexpected, but it is the first time we see something looking like a football,”
a spokesperson for the Russian miner told Rapaport News Sunday.
The producer will name the diamond after Igor Akinfeev,
Russia’s goalkeeper.
Alrosa, one of the World Cup’s sponsors, has made the most
of the marketing opportunity, releasing a collection of 32 round, 0.3-carat
polished diamonds in honor of the sports event — one for each of the countries
taking part in the tournament. It also launched a competition for fans to choose
a soccer-related name for a 76.53-carat rough stone. However, none of those
diamonds had the distinction of actually looking like a soccer ball.
Image: Alrosa
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Tags:
Alrosa, Arkhangelsky, football, Igor Akinfeev, Karpinskaya-1, marketing, mining, Rapaport News, Rough Diamonds, Russia, Soccer, World Cup
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