A large emerald weighing 1.1kg (2.5lbs) and worth an estimated £2m has been found in a mine in Zambia.

The 5,655-carat gem was named "Inkalamu", by mining company Gemfields, which found it at Kagem, the world's largest emerald mine earlier this month. The name means lion in the local Bemba language and references the animal conservation work carried out in the area.

Only the rarest and most remarkable emeralds are given names, Gemfields said.

Image: The stone will be cut it into smaller pieces and auctioned. Pic: Gemfields

The firm, which plans to cut it into smaller pieces for auction next month in Singapore, described it as having "remarkable clarity and a perfectly balanced golden green hue".

Gemfields admitted it is hard to say how many individual gems will be cut from Inkalamu, but estimates value it at £2m.

"We expect a number of large, fine-quality cut emeralds to be borne of the Inkalamu crystal," said the company's Adrian Banks.


"Given this emerald is such a rare find, it is also perfectly conceivable that the buyer will choose to purchase it as an investment," he added.

Despite its enormous size, Inkalamu is not the biggest emerald found in the company's mines.

In 2010 its miners discovered a 6,225-carat emerald they named the "elephant".

For sheer size, even that is no match for the Bahia Emerald, discovered in Brazil in 2001, which weighs a reported 381kg (840lb)

Image: The Bahia Emerald, mined in Brazil, is the biggest ever found

It included the largest single shard of emerald ever found, described as "the size of a man's thigh".

Another extremely large emerald, whose owner Regan Reaney claimed it was the world's largest, was dismissed as a fake in 2012.

The finest emeralds can be worth more per carat than diamonds and most are mined in Zambia, Colombia, and Brazil.