In Late August, news began circulating worldwide that what could prove to be the world’s largest diamond had been discovered in South Africa. The small scale mining company claimed to have found a stone that weighed around 7,000 carats (around the size of a coconut), and was of a green color. An early publication by the BBC of the account can be found here. After reading this article you will see why I chose not to sensationalize this “finding”, as it seemed fraudulent from the very beginning.
Immediately, skepticism from everyone in the industry became widespread. De Beers publicly stated that the north-west province of South Africa was not known for producing diamonds, but that if tests proved conclusively the item in question was a diamond, that it would be the discovery of the century. This was a statement made by De Beers, in a rather nice way, to let everyone know that De Beers was stating those making the claim were full of it.
The Mail & Guardian article about the truth of the “stone” in question can be found here. I honestly do not wish to take a whole lot of time to cover this issue in depth. I knew in the beginning this was a bogus find, and the audacity of those who perpetrated this fraud is appalling.
“The world’s largest diamond” as it appeared on BBC.co.uk, next to a cell phone.
