Indian worker's diamond find clears debts and funds family home

The extraordinary story took place in India. Its hero is Raju Gound from Madhya Pradesh. According to Interia, the man was facing serious financial problems. He decided to try his luck and leased a small plot of diamond-bearing land from a company. He paid about $240 for one season of the lease.

Equipped with only a shovel and a sieve, Gound searched the land, dedicating long hours to it, both day and night, while still working his regular job. His persistence paid off. The man managed to find an exceptional diamond. The 19.22-carat diamond was valued at even 8 million rupees, which is approximately $91,000.

As every diamond finder does, Raju Gound handed the stone over to the government diamond office. Here, they are appraised and sold. The finder receives the proceeds from the sale, though reduced by the tax amount.

For Gound, this is a huge opportunity to deal with debts, which are said to be 500,000 rupees (about $6,000). Plans include building a bigger house for his 19-member family. Interestingly, the man announced that he intends to divide the money among all household members.

Raju Gound emphasized that he does not intend to stop with this one diamond. As he stated, the last find only whetted his appetite for more. He is convinced that there could be even larger specimens in the ground waiting for him to find them.

Unfortunately, valuable finds are scarce. In an interview with the BBC, Anupam Singh from the diamond office said that the last record-breaking large diamond was found in 2018. It was valued at 15 million rupees (about $182,000). Usually, however, significantly smaller specimens reach the office.

Read also: Scientists discovered more secrets of Titan. "This is just the first step"