Luele's resource contains an estimated 628 million carats of diamonds with a mine-life of 60 years.

The Gravelotte mine, operational between 1929 and 2002, was one of the world's largest emerald mines in the 1950s and 1960s .

The West African country has rich mineral reserves of diamonds, gold and iron ore.

EU diplomatic sources said last week the proposal under discussion was to ban direct diamond imports from Russia from Jan. 1.

The proposal is part of a new sanctions package to curb Russia's ability to finance its invasion of Ukraine.

The sanctions package also contains import bans on a number of metals.

The G7 has been weighing various proposals on how to track the origin of diamonds coming into Western markets.

Global demand for diamonds has fallen to levels not seen since the pandemic.