South Africa awaits proof of "biggest diamond" find (1st Lead)

Aug 28, 2007, 10:02 GMT

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.