A Tanzanian small-scale miner has hit the jackpot after the government handed him a cheque for 7.74bn Tanzanian shillings ($3.35m) for the two largest tanzanite gemstones ever found.

The two dark violet-blue gemstones, each about the weight of 9.2 kg nd 5.8 kg, were discovered by Saniniu Laizer in one of the tanzanite mines in the north of the country which are surrounded by a wall to control cross-border smuggling of the gemstones.

“I want to build a shopping mall and a school. I want to build this school near my home. There are many poor people around here who can’t afford to take their children to school," the miner said to the BBC.