A 552-carat yellow gem found in Canada is about 3 times the size of the next largest stone discovered in North America. The gem was found at the Diavik mine in the Northwest Territories. The Diavik mine is renowned for producing some very high-quality diamonds. According to the dominion Chief Executive Officer Shane Durgin, the diamond is suitable for jewellery. Durgin said in an interview to Bloomberg, “We can label it fancy yellow, but beyond that, due to its rough nature and the abrasions received through the processing facility, that’s all we can comment on. It’s very hard to give a ballpark estimate. It all depends on, again, the cutting and the resulting stone it ends up.” 552-Carat Diamond Unearthed in Canada, Largest in North America!
Bloomberg's reports have it that the discovery is the seventh-biggest this century, and that would hit the list of 30 largest stones ever unearthed. In the year 1905, the biggest stone was found near Pretoria in South Afric and was of 3,106-carat Cullinan. The largest gem was then cut into several polished gems. The two largest were- the Great Star of Africa and the Lesser Star of Africa and they are now set in the Crown Jewels of Britain.
Here are the 3 biggest diamonds in the world-
Cullinan diamond- The largest diamond is said to be the Cullinan diamond. It was found in the year 1905 in South Africa by Sir Thomas Cullinan and weighed a massive 3106 carats when it was found. It was then given to King Edward VII of the United Kingdom as a gift and taken to Amsterdam, where it was cut.
Excelsior- Excelsior diamond is known for being the second largest diamond to be found in the continent of Africa found in the year1893. It was discovered at the Jagersfontein Mine in South Africa near Kimberley. This blue-white coloured diamond weighs about 995.20 carats.
Millennium Star diamond- This is the second largest colourless diamond. It is also the highest colour rating of D in the world. Found in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the precious diamond weighs an expected 777 carats. Valued at the estimated R2 billion- the De Beers Group currently owns it.
Now you know about the biggest diamonds in the world. I think diamonds are one of the best gifts to us by mother nature after of course, oxygen and water.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 16, 2018 12:54 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).