Thank you - pictures of that stone are very hard to come by....
"I agree with the poster who found this story implausible. There are good quality roads, etc. in Bahia. As for the estimate of 180,000 carats. B***shit. It appears that much of the 850 lbs is just matrix holding the emeralds together - not uncommon. By result of their chemical composition and ultimate formation, "flawless" (as often related to daimonds) is impossible in emeralds.
Until the matrix is washed off and every single crystal examined and graded, there is no way to estimate the value. Like all commodoties, emeralds are subject to market forces of supply and demand. That is one reason that deBeers tries so hard to stop the sales of so-called synthetic diamonds (produced in the lab - are just as real as those in nature).
As soon as diamonds (or emeralds) were to become 'pedestrian', the cartels that control production would not longer be able to control pricing. Same is true of oil...anything else one wants to consider. all in all, this story is just that...a big story filled with media savvy embellishment."