A Pastor has found one of the world’s largest uncut diamonds, weighing
706 carats, which could be the 10th largest ever found. It was found in
Sierra Leone’s eastern Kono region. The stone, is being stored in the
country’s central bank, government sources said.
A local chief from Kono handed the stone to President Ernest Koroma on
behalf of Emmanuel Momoh who made the discovery. The government plans to
auction it. The stone is yet to be valued but could be worth millions
of dollars.
The presidency said in a statement that Mr. Koroma thanked the chief who
acted as an intermediary for not smuggling it out of the country.
Diamonds fueled a decade-long civil war that ended in 2002 in which
50,000 people were killed.
Rebels forced civilians in the east to mine the stones and bought
weapons with the proceeds, leading to the term “blood diamonds”. “He
(Koroma) underscored the importance of selling such a diamond here as it
will clearly give the owners what is due them and benefit the country
as a whole,” the statement said.
