Johannesburg - Reports that a massive '7,000-carat' diamond,
which would be twice as big as the largest on record, had been found
at a South African mine were being treated with caution within the
mining industry Tuesday.
South African public radio reported late Monday that a giant gem
had been excavated at a mine in the country's North-West Province
earlier in the day.
The stone was twice the size of the previous world-record-holder,
the Cullinan Diamond, which was discovered near Pretoria in January
1905 and weighed about 3,106 carats uncut, the report said.
The Cape Times newspaper on Tuesday quoted Brett Jolly, a
shareholder in the mine which was not named, as saying the stone was
light green in colour and that it 'the largest diamond ever found' at
'between 6,500 and 8,000 carats.'
Jolly told the paper he would go 'on record and say that it's
7,000 carats.' He declined to give the name of the mine or its
location for 'security' reasons. The paper had received an emailed
photograph of a stone on a table in a room, which Jolly claimed was
the diamond.
Diamond experts were eagerly awaiting images of the stone which
was being transported under tight security to a vault in
Johannesburg, where it would be photographed, according to Jolly.
'If one believes on has a stone which may be of value one simply
takes such a stone to a recognized gem lab to establish whether one
has a stone or a diamond.' Tom Tweedy, spokesman for diamond mining
giant De Beers, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.
'If it's true it's the find of the century,' a leading gemologist
at the Jewellery Council of South Africa grading laboratories, Les
Milner, told dpa, adding: 'Even if it's of bad quality it's the find
of the century.'
Milner, who analyses gems on behalf of De Beers, said he had not
been contacted by the mining company behind the find about assessing
the stone.
Without having seen photographs of the stone he declined to
estimate its value, saying it depended on several factors, including
its quality and how many stones could be cut from it.
'There are a lot of ifs,' he said. Determining whether the stone
was indeed a diamond, and not, for example, a crystal, was 'not
difficult,' he said. Anyone with knowledge of diamonds would be able
to tell the difference.
Jolly could not be immediately contacted Tuesday as he was
travelling.
Described by his lawyer Schalk Marais as a businessman and
property developer Jolly made news in 2001 when he went to court in
Cape Town to seek the liquidation of a timeshare property company
Holland Moorehouse of which he was chief executive.
Jolly 'had 'sort of mentioned' having acquired the right to
explore for diamonds in North-West province, Marais said.
Diamond mining in South Africa is dominated by De Beers but the
company has no mines in North-West province, where several smaller
companies are active.
The Cullinan Diamond was found by Premier Diamond Mining Company
in January 2005 and later cut into several stones, which now adorn
the British crown jewels.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
USA
Your Talkback on this Story