7 Madhya Pradesh labourers find Rs 50 lakh diamond in abandoned mine

Seven daily-wage workers in Madhya Pradesh's Panna district may have struck a significant windfall after discovering a 17.96-carat diamond in an abandoned mine. The gem-quality stone could fetch up to Rs 50 lakh at auction. Akhilesh Pal and six other laborers leased a shallow mine in Sarokha village around two years ago and stopped working there after months of finding no valuable minerals.

It was nearly a year later that heavy rains prompted them to revisit the old mine. While inspecting the site, Pal noticed a stone lying near the top and picked it up. "We had been mining there for about two years," Pal told the BBC, "but we had no luck, so we closed the mine for a year. We had started another mine right next to it."

He added, "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." Diamond officials confirmed the stone weighed 17.96 carats and described it as "gem quality," noting its rarity and value. The diamond is set to be auctioned by the government, likely in October, where it could generate around Rs 50 lakh, with around 12% of the proceeds going to the government as royalty.

The remaining money will be split equally among the seven workers. Panna has previously seen similar discoveries, with a tribal family finding a 11.19-carat diamond valued at around Rs 30 lakh in June. In 2024, the same family had unearthed a larger 19.22-carat stone, which fetched Rs 93 lakh at a government auction.