Matt Betteridge, a sapphire hunter from Queensland, Australia, found a 834-carat sapphire thanks to heavy rains in the area, IDEX Online report.
Betteridge was out scanning the ground for precious gems, a practice called “specking,” when he got lucky and stumbled upon a stone the size of a “small child’s fist,” according to the report. “Specking” is especially done after wet weather “because rain washes away the topsoil, exposing sapphires. According to the report, Betteridge was “specking” close to his home in Rubyvale, in the Gemfields region, “known as one of the largest sapphire-bearing areas in the world.”
The Gemmological Association of Australia said any sapphire over five-carats was very rare, and valued the stone at AUD $12,500 (USD $8,000).
