A huge diamond dug up by miners in Botswana could turn out to be the one of the biggest ever.
The 1,098-carat stone was unearthed on June 1 by Debswana, whose acting general manager said ‘it is believed to be the third largest gem-quality find in the world’.
It was shown to President Mokgweetsi Masisi in the country’s capital Gaborone.
News of the discovery comes as diamond fever gripped a tiny village across the border in South Africa.
Thousands of treasure hunters flocked to KwaHlathi, in the KwaZulu-Natal province, to burrow through the soil where a local shepherd found a fistful of unidentified stones.
Word quickly spread about the find after pictures and videos were posted to social media showing people celebrating the discovery of what are believed to be quartz crystals.
Prospectors wielding picks, shovels and forks travelled from across the country, some overnight, to join villagers who have been digging since Saturday.
Sihle Zikalala, the province’s premier, ordered the crowds to leave the area, warning that ‘the situation could result in chaos and a possible stampede’.
Some people set up stalls and started selling the stones, with the starting price ranging from 100 rand (£5) to 300 rand (£15).
Clutching a handful of stones, one digger, Mendo Sabelo, said the discovery was a life-changer.
The 27-year-old father-of-two said: ‘This means our lives will change because no one had a proper job, I do odd jobs. When I returned home with them, (the family was) really overjoyed.’
Unemployed Skhumbuzo Mbhele concurred, adding: ‘I hadn’t seen or touched a diamond in my life. It’s my first time touching it here.’
The mines department said on Monday it was sending a team of geological and mining experts to the site to collect samples and conduct an analysis.
A formal technical report will be issued in due course, they added.
South Africa’s economy has long suffered from extremely high levels of unemployment, trapping millions in poverty and contributing to stark inequalities that persist nearly three decades after the end of apartheid in 1994.
The coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated the problems.
The biggest diamond ever discovered in the world was the 3,106-carat Cullinan, found in South Africa in 1905.
The second largest was 1,109-carat Lesedi La Rona – a diamond the size of a tennis ball – discovered at Karowe, northeastern Botswana, in 2015.
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