Akhilesh Pal and six others leased the mine in Panna's Sarokha village for a meagre sum two years back<\/p>\n
Seven poor labourers in Panna, a diamond mining area in central India, have made a discovery that they say has the potential to change their lives forever.<\/p>\n
The delighted men said they found a large diamond on a plot of land they had leased two years back.<\/p>\n
On the weighing scale, the rock measured 17.96 carats and Panna diamond official Ravi Patel said it was "gem quality" – one of the finest varieties of natural diamonds that exist.<\/p>\n
Describing the diamond as "precious", Patel said it would be put up for auction in the first half of October. He estimated its worth to be at least 5m rupees ($52,400; \u00a338,800).<\/p>\n
The diamond weighs 17.96 carats and has been described as a "precious… gem-quality" rock<\/p>\n
Diamond finds are not so rare in Panna, which is in Madhya Pradesh state – home to most of India's diamond reserves.<\/p>\n
The district is among India's least developed and its residents face poverty, water scarcity and unemployment.<\/p>\n
With few job opportunities in the city, residents hope for a prized find to improve their fortunes and the region remains a prime destination for diamond hunters.<\/p>\n
Reports, external say a majority of Panna's miners are daily-wage labourers who work for lease-holders – if they find a diamond, the money goes to the lease-holder and not the miners themselves.<\/p>\n
But the latest find is one of the few cases where the actual finders would benefit.<\/p>\n
The mine in Panna's Sarokha village was leased for a meagre sum by Akhilesh Pal and six others two years back, Press Trust of India reported.<\/p>\n
Pal said the mine had been shut for a year and was opened only recently. On Monday, as he inspected the mine after heavy rains, he spotted the rock.<\/p>\n
"We had been mining there for about two years," he said, "but we had no luck, so we closed the mine for a year. We had started another mine right next to it."<\/p>\n
"When we went there to inspect the new one, we also looked inside the old mine, and that's where we found it – right on top," he added.<\/p>\n