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Miners in Lesotho have discovered a huge gem stone which may become the largest ever polished round diamond. The stone weighs 478 carats and is the 20th largest rough diamond ever found, said Gem Diamonds. The company said the uncut rock was recovered recently from the Letseng mine, owned by the company in Lesotho. The diamond, which is as yet unnamed, has the potential to yield a 150 carat cut stone, and could sell for tens of millions of dollars, the company said. Clarity "Preliminary examination of this remarkable diamond indicates it will yield a record-breaking polished stone of the very best colour and clarity," said the company's chief executive Clifford Elphick. It would be bigger than the 105 carat round-cut Koh-i-Noor diamond, which is part of the British Crown Jewels. It would still be dwarfed by the Cullinan diamond discovered in 1905, which was 3,106 carats uncut and yielded a teardrop shaped diamond of 530 carats called the Great Star of Africa. The Letseng mine is owned by a mining company of which Gem Diamonds controls 70% and the Lesotho government 30%. | |
updated at 21:14 GMT, Sunday, 21 September 2008 22:14 UK
(CNN) -- A diamond unearthed in the southern African nation of Lesotho could yield one of the largest and highest quality round polished diamonds, according to a statement Monday from company that found it.
A mining company unearthed this 478-carat diamond in the southern African nation of Lesotho.
The diamond, which was taken from the Letseng Mine, is the 20th largest rough diamond ever found.
Experts in Antwerp, Belgium who analyzed the 478-carat stone determined it to be of the highest color grading available for a white diamond, said a statement from Gem Diamonds Ltd., the company that found the stone.
"What makes it more remarkable is the color and quality of this stone," said diamond consultant Neil Buxton.
"It's a D color, which is the highest possible graded color you can get, and we believe there is a chance -- a very good chance -- of getting a 100-carat plus" round stone with the highest color and clarity rankings.
The company said such a stone would "to the best of our knowledge" be "the first one in history." 
Watch more on the diamond »
The diamond, which was found in September, ranks as the 20th largest rough diamond ever found, but is not the biggest ever taken from the Letseng Mine, which is co-owned by Gem Diamonds Ltd. and the Kingdom of Lesotho, a country of 2.1 million that is surrounded by South Africa.
Two bigger stones -- 603 and 493 carats -- were found in the mine in 2006 and 2007, respectively, the company said. A 601-carat diamond was mined there in 1960, it said.
(Pelham/Handout/Reuters) (AFP/File/Carl de Souza)
Sun Sep 21, 10:52 AM ET
A 76.41cts flawless diamond found in Lesotho. Gem Diamonds, a London-listed mining firm, has said Sunday it had recovered a 478 carat diamond from its mine in Lesotho: the 20th-largest rough diamond ever found.
(AFP/File/Carl de Souza)
Sun Sep 21, 10:52 AM ET
A 76.41cts flawless diamond found in Lesotho. Gem Diamonds, a London-listed mining firm, has said Sunday it had recovered a 478 carat diamond from its mine in Lesotho: the 20th-largest rough diamond ever found.
(AFP/File/Carl de Souza)
