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BBC / Olivia Acland / Artisanal, or freelance, miners are a common site in Sierra Leone's diamond-rich Kono district
A Christian pastor has discovered one of the world’s largest uncut diamonds in Sierra Leone’s Kono district.
The diamond, weighing 709 carats, is now locked up in Sierra Leone’s central bank in Freetown.
It is one of the 20 largest diamonds ever found.
Freelance, or artisanal, miners are common in Sierra Leone’s diamond-rich areas, reports the BBC’s Umaru Fofana.
But there are questions over whether the community will benefit from the discovery, he adds.
The diamond, which has not yet been valued, is the biggest to be discovered in Sierra Leone since 1972, when the 969-carat Star of Sierra Leone was dug up.
Sierra Leone is well known for its diamond industry but it has had a chequered history.
Diamond sales partly fuelled the country’s decade-long civil war when rebel groups exchanged them for weapons.
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