A massive 2,492-carat diamond — the second largest in the world — has been discovered in Botswana, the Canadian mining company that found the stone announced Thursday.
The diamond was discovered at the Karowe Diamond mine in northeastern Botswana using X-ray scanning technology, Lucara Diamond Corp. said in a statement.
Lucara did not provide an estimate of the find’s value. In terms of carats, the stone is second only to the 3,016-carat Cullinan diamond discovered in South Africa in 1905.
“We are ecstatic with the recovery of this stunning 2,492-carat diamond,” said Lucara President William Lamb.
That find was “one of the largest rough diamonds ever discovered” and was located using the company’s Mega Diamond Recovery X-ray technology installed in 2017 to locate and preserve large, high-value diamonds, the statement said.
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Lucara Botswana managing director Naseem Lahri presented the translucent stone, which is the size of a palm, to President Mokgweetsi Masisi at his office later on Thursday.
“I have been told that this is the largest diamond discovered in Botswana to date and the second in the world,” Masisi said, congratulating the company on the discovery. “This is precious.”
Botswana is one of the world’s largest producers of diamonds, which are its main source of income, accounting for 30% of its GDP and 80% of its exports, according to International Monetary Fund data.
The arid and sparsely populated country, home to about 2.5 million people, was poor at the time of its independence from Britain in 1966.
Diamonds were discovered a year later and today the country is the world’s largest producer by value, the IMF says.
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Lucara says it pays a royalty of 10% of the gross sales value of diamonds produced by Karowe to the government, regardless of whether the diamond is sold rough or polished.
“With a diamond this size, I can see roads being built,” said Masisi, as he posed for a photo with the huge stone.
“We’ll probably see more”
Tobias Kormind, chief executive of Europe’s largest online diamond jeweller, 77 Diamonds, confirmed it was the largest rough diamond discovered since the Cullinan Diamond, parts of which adorn Britain’s Crown Jewels.
“This discovery is largely due to newer technology that allows larger diamonds to be extracted from the ground without breaking into pieces. So we will likely see more of where it came from,” he said.
Before the find was announced on Thursday, the largest diamond discovered in Botswana was a 1,758-carat stone mined by Lucara at the Karowe mine in 2019 and named Sewelo.
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Lucara found a 1,174-carat diamond stone in Botswana in 2021 using the same X-ray technology.
The mine began production in 2012 and has since sold 216 diamonds for more than $1 million each and more than 11 individual diamonds for more than $10 million each, he says.
The diamond mining industry has been hit by lab-grown releases and weaker spending. “Diamond prices are going through a tough time right now,” Masisi said. “But every diamond is precious and precious. We have to optimize and get the best price for that diamond.”
The Financial Times reported that people close to Lucara, who were not identified, estimated that the stone could be worth more than $40 million.
Source: AFP