A huge 2,492-carat diamond, the second largest in the world, has been discovered in Botswana, the Canadian mining company that found the stone announced on Thursday.
The diamond was discovered at the Karowe diamond mine in northeastern Botswana using X-ray detection technology, Lucara Diamond Corp. said in a statement.
Lucara did not provide an estimate of the find's value. In terms of carat, the stone is second only to the 3,016-carat Cullinan Diamond discovered in South Africa in 1905.
“We are extremely pleased with the discovery of this extraordinary 2,492-carat diamond,” Lucara President William Lamb said in a statement.
The find was “one of the largest rough diamonds ever unearthed” and was discovered using the company’s Mega Diamond Recovery X-ray technology, which was installed in 2017 to identify and preserve large, valuable diamonds, the statement said.
Lucara Botswana Director Naseem Lahri presented the translucent, palm-sized stone to President Mokgweetsi Masisi at his office later on Thursday.
“I heard this is the largest diamond discovered in Botswana so far and the second in the world,” said Masisi, who congratulated the company on the find. “This is precious.”
Botswana is one of the world's largest producers of diamonds, accounting for 30 percent of GDP and 80 percent of exports, according to figures from the International Monetary Fund.
The dry and sparsely populated country, home to about 2.5 million people, was poor when it gained independence from Britain in 1966.
A year later, diamonds were discovered and the country is now the world's largest producer by value, according to the IMF.
Lucara says it pays the government a royalty of 10 percent of the gross sales value of diamonds produced at Karowe, regardless of whether the diamond is sold rough or polished.
“With a diamond of this size, I can see roads being built,” Masisi said as he posed for photos with the enormous stone.
– 'Will probably see more'
Tobias Kormind, managing director of 77 Diamonds, Europe's largest online diamond jeweler, confirmed it is the largest rough diamond found since the Cullinan Diamond, parts of which adorn the British Crown Jewels.
“This discovery is largely due to newer technology that allows larger diamonds to be extracted from the ground without breaking them into pieces. So we'll probably learn more about where this 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 its Karowe mine in 2019 and named Sewelo.
In 2021, Lucara found a 1,174-carat diamond in Botswana using the same X-ray technology.
The mine started production in 2012 and since then has sold 216 diamonds for more than $1 million each and more than 11 loose diamonds for more than $10 million each, the mine reports.
The diamond mining industry has been hit by lab-grown versions and weaker spending. “Diamond prices are going through a tough time right now,” Masisi said. “But every diamond is precious and valuable. We need to optimize and get the best price for this diamond.”
According to the Financial Times newspaper, people close to Lucara, whose identities have not been released, estimate the stone could be worth more than $40 million.
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