DIAMOND miners working off the coast of Africa stumbled across a 500-year-old shipwreck loaded with £9 million (US$13.13 million) of gold and coins.

    The Bom Jesus — or Good Jesus — was first discovered along the Namibian coast near Oranjemund by geologists from the mining company De Beers in April 2008.

    It was a Portuguese ship that set sail from Lisbon in 1533 captained by Sir Francisco de Noronha, and vanished, along with its entire crew, while on a voyage to India.

    It was found by the miners as they drained a manmade salt water lake along the Skeleton Coast, and while plenty of shipwrecks have been discovered along the stretch, this was the oldest and the first to be loaded down with coin and ivory tusks.

    They did not immediately find the treasure it contained — first, they discovered strange pieces of wood and metal along the beach, before discovering the shipwreck buried under the sand. It was not until the sixth day that they found a treasure chest full of gold.

    The discovery led to the site being placed under the UNESCO Convention on the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage.

    (SD-Agencies)