August 29, 2007
World Briefing | Africa
South Africa: Huge Gem Reported Found
An obscure South African mining company claimed to have found a greenish-tinged diamond weighing in at 7,000 carats, more than twice the size of the fabulous Cullinan, the pride of the British crown jewels and for a century the holder of the title world's biggest diamond, but skeptics said the claim remained unproved. The company, which runs an unnamed mine in North West Province, circulated a photograph of the softball-size gem, which its spokesman, Brent Jolly, said was in a Johannesburg bank vault. But the find has not been certified, and naysayers said large diamonds, much less rare green ones, are rarely found in that part of the country. Government and diamond-industry agencies said they were unaware of the discovery.
