By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Authorities in Botswana say the country has unearthed one of the largest diamonds ever at one of its mining sites, a development that has attracted widespread excitement.
It is believed that the huge 2,492-carat precious stone is the second-biggest ever mined from the country’s soil.
Canadian mining company carrying out exploration activities in the area, Lucara Diamond Corp. said in a statement on Wednesday that it recovered the “exceptional” rough diamond from its Karowe Mine in Botswana.
The company said it was a “high-quality” stone and was found intact it was located using X-ray technology.
“We are ecstatic about the recovery of this extraordinary 2,492-carat diamond,” Lucara President and CEO William Lamb said in a statement.
Heritage Times HT observed that the weight of the mineral deposit makes it the largest diamond found in more than 100 years and the second-largest ever dug out of a mining site after the Cullinan Diamond, discovered in South Africa in 1905.
The Cullinan was 3,106 carats and was cut into gems, some of which form part of the British Crown Jewels.
The newly discovered diamond was presented to the world at the office of Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi on Thursday.
The government said it was the largest diamond found in the southern African country, which is the second-biggest producer of diamonds and has unearthed all of the world’s biggest stones in recent years.
The same mining site, the Karowe Mine has previously produced four diamonds over 1,000 carats.
Before this discovery, the Sewelo diamond, which was found at the Karowe Mine in 2019, was recognized as the second-biggest mined diamond in the world at 1,758 carats.
It was bought by French fashion house Louis Vuitton for an undisclosed amount.
The 1,111-carat Lesedi La Rona diamond, also from Botswana’s Karowe Mine, was bought by a British jeweler for $53 million in 2017.
Scientists say natural diamonds are at least a billion years old and some of them more than 3 billion years old.
