ARKHANGELSK, October 15. /TASS/. The biggest diamond ever found in Europe may be added to the collection of the Russian Diamond Fund, the diamond mine’s operator AGD Diamonds has told TASS.

Earlier, a diamond weighing 340 carats was discovered in northwestern Russia’s Arkhangelsk Region.

"Diamonds are handed over to the Gokhran of Russia [a state institution responsible for the State Fund of Precious Metals and Precious Stones] for initial assessment, which includes classification and primary evaluation. After that, the crystal’s future fate will be decided. In some cases, they may be handed over to the Diamond Fund of Russia," AGD Diamonds said.

Since 2017, the V.Grib diamond deposit, where the stone was found, has produced 48 gem-quality diamonds weighting over 50 carats.

"But a precious stone of this size is, of course, a unique occurrence for the region. Up until now, all the largest discoveries were made in Yakutia," the company said. "Experts preliminarily classified the crystal to as type 2 low-nitrogen diamond, which account for less than 2% of all natural diamonds. The diamond is of unique quality in terms of color and transparency, combined with total absence of internal imperfections."

"As a stone weighting more than 50 carats, mined at the V.Grib deposit, this diamond will get its own name - in the honor of an outstanding historical figure or event," the company added.