Farmer finds 7.44 carat diamond in Panna mine, his second discovery in 3 months

Three months after finding a 16.10 carat diamond, a farmer and his associates have dug up another precious stone of 7.44 carat in Madhya Pradesh's Panna district, officials said.

Dilip Mistry, who had leased a piece of land in Jaruapur area for excavation, deposited the diamond with the Panna Diamond Office on Saturday, said an official.

It will be put up for auction along with the 16.10 carat diamond Mistry and his associates had found in August, said Anupam Singh, the official with the diamond office.

The office at present has 79 diamonds in its repository, weighing around 228 carats and worth an estimated Rs 3.53 crore in total, Singh said, adding that the diamond deposited on Saturday was of average quality.

“The happiness of finding a diamond is indescribable. The money earned from these diamonds will be used for the expansion of the mine, the future of our children and farming,” Mistry told reporters.

They got into diamond mining during the COVID-19 lockdown, he said.

"We, between all of us partners, have so far deposited seven or eight diamonds with the diamond office," Mistry said.

Earlier in July, a labourer had found a 19.22 carat diamond in the area.