A rough 2,492-carat diamond, the second-largest ever discovered, has been found in Botswana at a mine belonging to the Canadian company Lucara Diamond.
This discovery is the most significant since the 3,106-carat Cullinan diamond was unearthed in South Africa in 1905 and subsequently divided into nine individual stones, with several now part of the British Crown Jewels.
Located approximately 500km (300 miles) north of Botswana's capital, Gaborone, the diamond was unearthed at Karowe mine. The government of Botswana announced that it was the biggest diamond ever found in the southern African country.
In 2019, a 1,758-carat stone, the previous largest find in Botswana, was discovered at the same mine.
Botswana contributes around 20% of the world's total diamond output, being a major producer.
Lucara described the recently found 2,492-carat stone as "one of the largest rough diamonds ever found."
William Lamb, Lucara's CEO, credited the recovery of the diamond to the company's Mega Diamond Recovery X-ray technology, in use since 2017 to detect and protect valuable diamonds during the ore-crushing process.
The firm did not provide details on the gem quality or value of the stone. However, sources familiar with Lucara speculated that its value could exceed $40m (£30.6m), as reported by the UK-based Financial Times newspaper.
In 2019, Louis Vuitton bought a 1,758-carat stone, and in 2017, Laurence Graff purchased a 1,109-carat diamond from the same mine for $53 million. Lucara owns the Karowe mine.
According to a recent Reuters report, Botswana is proposing a law mandating companies with mining licenses to allocate a 24% stake to local firms if the government opts out of ownership.
Comments