The boss of the company which found the biggest diamond in 100 years wants 'more than $60 million' for it

 Provided by Business Insider UK huge diamond lucara Last week a small Canadian miner found the biggest single diamond in around 100 years. Now, the company’s CEO has spoken for the first time about how much he wants for the enormous gem.

In an interview with Bloomberg , William Lamb, the chief executive of Vancouver-based Lucara, wouldn’t give away exactly how much he wants for the diamond. But he did say that it’s definitely “ higher than the current estimates that people are putting out there, which are north of $60 million (£39.8 million).”

Lamb said that Lucara has already been offered more than $40 million (£26.5 million) for the stone, which is about the size of a tennis ball. The company has also received an inquiry from the Natural History Museum in London about displaying the diamond.

The Lucara diamond is 1,111 carats. Generally speaking, carats are used as the main way of determining a diamond’s price. “A lot of people will use use $60,000 (£39,800) a carat as the basis,” Lamb said. “On top of that, you have to look at the size of the final polished diamond as well as the historical context. That’s going to play into it too.”

Only one diamond in the last 100 years, the 3,106 carat Cullinan stone, is bigger than Lucara's stone. Parts of the Cullinan stone are now in the Crown Jewels.

Lucara are going to take their time over the sale, and amazingly, given the clearly huge price the company could get for the stone, Lamb is considering keeping hold of it. This is made possible by the fact that Lucara has no debt, Lamb said.

“The diamond sector is not full of opportunities, so for us to run out and sell it now doesn’t really make sense,” Lamb said. “We have the time to look at what is the best way to sell it. Not selling it is actually an option.”

Lamb also added that the unnamed worker who found the tennis ball-sized gem is the only person to handle the stone.