Legal battle over 3ft tall Brazilian emerald worth US$372m finally settled after six years

The battle over the ownership of a 341kg emerald in the United States may have been settled after six years and millions of dollars in legal and other costs.

Judge Michael Johnson of the Los Angeles County Superior Court tentatively ruled that FM Holdings had established clear title to the Brazilian gem worth US$372 million.

Unless other parties object, the ruling will become final, then a judgment will be submitted and Johnson will sign off on it, said FM Holdings' lawyer Andrew J Spielberger. No one was expected to object, Spielberger said, because other claimants had either lost in court or settled with the holding company.

Within a month, FM Holdings should be able to request the release of the emerald, which has been stored by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

The gem was pulled from a mine in the jungles of Bahia state and is known as the Bahia Emerald. It is one of the largest uncut emeralds in the world, with about 180,000 carats and standing almost a metre tall in the form of enormous green rods embedded in stone.

The emerald has a colourful history.

One claimant, Anthony Thomas, was photographed with it in a carport in Brazil in 2001. He said he paid US$60,000 for the gem but never received it, although it was never insured and he did not have a receipt for it.