Mining giant Rio Tinto has unearthed a “remarkable” 12.76 carat pink diamond in Australia, the largest of the rare and precious stones ever found in the country.

Named the Argyle Pink Jubilee, the huge rough stone was found at Rio’s pink diamond operations in the Kimberley region of Western Australia and would take 10 days to cut and polish, the miner said.

“This rare diamond is generating incredible excitement,” said Josephine Johnson from Rio’s Argyle Pink Diamonds division.

“A diamond of this calibre is unprecedented — it has taken 26 years of Argyle production to unearth this stone and we may never see one like this again.

Rio said extremely high quality pink diamonds could fetch in excess of US$1 million per carat, meaning it is likely to go for at least $10 million.

Soaring demand for the extremely rare jewel has seen pink diamond prices skyrocket in the past 20 years and they are now among “the most concentrated forms of wealth on earth and well in excess of white diamonds,” Rio said.

The miner describes it as an “elite and discrete” market with buyers including royalty, heads of state, celebrities and “other very wealthy individuals.”