A much anticipated auction for one of the world’s largest diamonds fizzled on Thursday when the government of Sierra Leone rejected a $7.8-million bid for the rough, egg-sized stone, saying it failed to meet its own valuation. The 706 ct gem is the second largest ever discovered in the West African country and was unearthed in March in the eastern Kono region by a Christian pastor who gave it to the government to handle the sale.
