South African Mine Produces Yet Another Massive Diamond

Miners at the Letseng Mine in Lesotho, South Africa found a 478-carat diamond earlier this week. While this is the 20th largest rough diamond ever to be found, once cut, it could be the largest single round diamond in history.

The final value of a diamond depends on it weight (or carats) after it is cut and polished, its clarity and whether it is round or tear-drop shaped. In this case experts believe, that this yet to be named diamond, could end up with at least one 150 carat round diamond and maybe a few smaller ones. In addition, initial examination results show that the diamond is flawless, making it even more valuable.

If the diamond does end up being about 150 carats, it will finally overshadow the famous Koh-i-Noor, which at 105 carats has been the biggest round diamond in the world since the 14th century. The Koh-i-Noor, which means mountain of light used to be the pride and joy of the Mogul Emperors of India, until it was taken away by the British Government, who ruled the country until 1947. It now adorns the Queen Mother's Crown (left) and is on display at the Tower of London. The Koh-i-Noor has a reputation for bringing bad luck to men but good luck to women who wear it.

The largest diamond ever to be found was the Culliinan Diamond, which was a whopping 3,105 carats in the rough. Found in 1905, when diamond cutting technology was not as sophisticated, the Cullinan ended up being cut into nine different diamonds. One of them, The Great Star of Africa, is still the world's largest teardrop diamond at 530 carats. It is also part of the British Crown Jewels collection on display at the Tower of London.

The mine where the recent diamond was found is quite notorious for its large diamonds. So far, it has produced three of the world's largest diamonds, including the 603 carat Lesotho Promise, cut into 26 diamonds, the 601 carat, Lesotho Brown, cut into 18 diamonds and the 493 carat Letseng Legacy, purchased by diamond retailer, Lawrence Graff.

Since Lesotho is one of the poorest countries in the World and the mine is 30 percent owned by the government, this is great news, as they generate a lot of their revenues from the sale of these large stones.

Source: DailyMail.co.uk, BBCNews