Large fancy vivid yellow diamond discovered in Northwest Territories

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The owners of a diamond mine in the Northwest Territories say workers have recovered what is likely Canada’s largest fancy vivid yellow diamond.

The Arctic Canadian Diamond Company says the 71.26-carat diamond was recovered from its Ekati mine on Aug. 25.

Fancy coloured diamonds are rare gems where the stone has a strong colour.

Yellow diamonds get their colour from the presence of nitrogen.

The grading system for the colour strength of fancy diamonds ranges from faint to fancy vivid.

A 552-carat rough yellow diamond was discovered at the Diavik diamond mine in the territory in 2018.

It holds the record for the biggest gem-quality diamond found in North America and one of the 30 largest in the world.