Meya Mining has recovered a 391.45-carat diamond in the Kono District of Sierra Leone, which is within an area that spans the Kamara Gbense and Tankoro chiefdoms, according to Namibia-based Trustco that holds a 19.5% interest in the mine.
The diamond, recovered on 20 August 2024, is the second exceptional diamond mined from the Meya River kimberlite domain—the first of 16 kimberlite domains within the company’s licenced area to be targeted.
It said the latest discovery was from a 514.99-carat diamond that broke into three pieces, yielding stones of 391.53 carats, 105.43 carats, and 18.11 carats.
“Only four mines in the world infrequently recover these exceptional [greater than] 500-carat diamonds,” said Meya chief executive Jan Joubert.
“The fact that Meya has recovered two greater than 500 carat Type IIa diamonds after treating only 84,195 tonnes of competent kimberlite from the Meya River domain, suggests that there is a high probability of recovering more and possibly bigger diamonds once the mine reaches steady state production of 500,000 tonnes kimberlite throughput per annum.”
Trustco deputy chief executive Quinton van Rooyen said six of the world’s largest diamonds had been discovered in the area surrounding Meya Mining’s licenced zone.
He said these notable diamonds include the 770-carat Woyie River Diamond (1945), the 620-carat Sefadu Diamond (1970), the 969-carat Star of Sierra Leone (1973), the 709-carat Peace Diamond (2017), the 476-carat Meya Prosperity (2017), and now the 391-carat diamond recovered in 2024.
“Where the Meya Prosperity diamond was once viewed as a unique occurrence, it is now clear that this region possesses an exceptional geology,” said Van Rooyen.
“We are excited about the prospect of continued exploration and the opportunity to uncover even more significant diamonds in the future."
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief, Rough&Polished
