Overview
- NMDC-CMDC confirmed on Tuesday that bulk-sample processing from the Baloda-Belmundi block in Mahasamund produced five diamonds weighing a combined 1.22 carats.
- Two stones were graded gem-quality (0.19 carats and 0.06 carats) and three were non-gem material weighing 0.32, 0.59 and 0.06 carats.
- The stones were recovered after processing about 200 tonnes of material that had been flagged by stream-sediment sampling, geophysical surveys and roughly 500 metres of exploratory drilling and were placed in NMDC’s secure strong room in Panna because the JV lacks a custody facility.
- Chhattisgarh’s chief minister called the result an important milestone and NMDC-CMDC has sought state guidance as it plans follow-up exploration, larger sampling and economic studies to test commercial viability.
- If further work confirms a sizeable deposit, the find could supply domestic rough diamonds for India’s large cutting and polishing industry and create local jobs, but current evidence is too limited to predict commercial mining.