Sierra Leone has rejected bids for one of the world’s largest diamonds at an auction on Thursday.
The 706-carat gem, which is the second largest ever discovered in the country, was unearthed in March in the eastern Kono region by a pastor who gave it to the government to handle the sale.
Five bids were handed to auctioneers in a sealed brown envelope, ranging from $2 million to $7.8 million and all were rejected.
Chief auctioneer and head of the National Minerals Agency, Sahr Wonday, told a packed room that the bid was below the government’s reserve amount.
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The government now hopes to get more for the stone at an international auction in either Antwerp, Belgium or Tel Aviv in Israel.
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