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LONDON (AP) — Turns out the largest diamond discovered in over a century may not be worth all that much.
The tennis ball-sized Lesedi la Rona failed to find a buyer Tuesday, a disappointing result for a stone which had described as "the find of a lifetime" by David Bennett, chairman of Sotheby's jewelry division.
The diamond was unearthed in November in Botswana at a mine owned by Canada's Lucara Diamond Corporation. It measured 1,109 carats, the second-largest gem-quality rough diamond ever discovered. Its name means "our light" in the Tswana language.
A spokeswoman said bidding reached $61 million — below the more than $70 million Sotheby's had hoped for.
No rough diamond of this size had ever been auctioned, and after Wednesday's sale it's unclear if one will for a while.
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