An Australian company unearthed a massive 404-carat diamond in Angola valued at as much as $14 million. It is the biggest diamond ever found in Angola. Lucapa chairman Miles Kennedy said it was a huge achievement. The company claimed the diamond was the largest found on record in the southern African nation as well as the biggest diamond found by an Australian miner. Angola is the fourth largest diamond-producing nation by value.

A photograph of the diamond supplied by the company shows it measuring at about 7 centimeters, or 2.75 inches. Mr Kennedy has a long history of searching for diamonds, having set up the Ellendale diamond mine in Western Australia’s Kimberley in the early 1990s. He took his geology team from the Ellendale mine to Angola when he set up Lucapa.

The diamond, which is 7 centimeters long, smashes the record set in 2007 by a 217-carat diamond dubbed the “Angolan Star”. The same section of the mine has unearthed 60 large special diamonds – those greater than 10.8 carats – so far. The firm estimates the massive gem is the 27th biggest recorded diamond ever.