This Tanzanian subsistence miner hit the pot of gold when he reportedly discovered two of the largest Tanzanite gemstones ever found. The government handed him a cheque for 7.74 billion shillings (Rs 25 crore, approximately), reported Reuters.
The large gemstones were a dark violet-blue in colour and the size of a forearm. They were discovered by Saniniu Laizer in one of the tanzanite mines in the north of the country, which are surrounded by a wall to control cross-border smuggling of gemstones.
According to the report, the first gemstone weighed 9.27 while the other one weighed 5.103 kg.?
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Tanzanite is a gemstone which is found only in a small northern region of Tanzania.
"Today's event is to recognise the two largest tanzanite gemstones in history since the beginning of mining activities in Mirerani," Simon Msanjila, mines ministry permanent secretary, said at a ceremony in the Simanjiro district in Tanzania's northern Manyara region.
Laizer was pictured on Tanzanian television being presented with a large cheque after the Bank of Tanzania bought the gemstones. President John Magufuli phoned to congratulate Laizer live on television.
"This is a confirmation that Tanzania is rich," Magufuli told minerals minister Doto Biteko.
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Last year, Tanzania set up trading centres around the East African country to allow artisanal miners to sell their gems and gold to the government. Artisanal miners are not typically employed by mining companies and usually mine by hand.
Magufuli inaugurated the wall around the mining concessions in northern Tanzania in April 2018 to cut down and control illegal mining and trading activities in the country.