AP reports: Namdeb, Namibia's diamond company, has discovered a 500-year-old shipwreck containing a treasure of coins, ivory, copper and weapons during mining operations at sea.

The site yielded six bronze cannons, several tonnes of copper, more than 50 elephant tusks, pewter tableware, navigational instruments, weapons and thousands of Spanish and Portuguese gold coins, minted in the late 1400s and early 1500s, according to the company.

According to company sources, human remains and ornaments linked to royalty raised speculation it could be the ship Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias, which went missing off the Cape of Good Hope in 1500.

The company came across the wreck April 1 after finding some copper ingots and the remains of three bronze cannons. It just goes to show that sometimes when you look for diamonds, you find other gems.