Struggling Indian labourer in debt digs up 19-carat diamond worth $100k
Published date: Sun, 28 Jul 2024 18:42:53 +0700A struggling Indian labourer struggling with debt received an unexpected windfall when he dug up a diamond worth 100,000 USD from a leased mine in India.
Raju Gond, 40, a breadwinner responsible for feeding a family of nine, normally makes the equivalent of 4 USD a day doing different jobs in his home state of Madhya Pradesh to make ends meet.
On July 24, he was searching for gold in a mine in Krishna Kalyanpur with his younger brother, Rakesh, when he uncovered the precious stone buried under the dirt.
He rubbed the dirt off the hard object, finding it glinting under the light.
He said: 'My heart pounded for a moment, but I knew immediately that it was a diamond when I kept on wiping the dirt as it kept on shining brightly.'
The brothers rushed back home to inform their mum of the life-changing discovery, before heading to a local diamond assayer to have the stone evaluated.
The assayer, Anupam Singh, confirmed the stone was a genuine white diamond weighing 19.2 carats, with an estimated value of 100,000 USD.
He noted that the Panna district, where the brothers reside, is renowned for its abundant diamond deposits, saying: 'In 1961 someone found a 54.55-carat diamond, then in 2018 someone found a 42-carat diamond, and now this.'
Raju hurriedly opened a bank account and is now eagerly waiting to receive the funds.
He said he will use the money to pay off his 6,000 USD of household debt, before paying for his children's tuition and investing in a house and a tractor.
Just a day after the fortuitous find, the brothers were back in the mine to search for more diamonds.
The government grants leases for shallow mines to families to find precious gemstones, under the supervision of officials.
The government then takes an 11.5 per cent cut and a tax from any find, and gives the rest to the miner.
