By Deutsche Welle
Aug 22, 2024, 7:34 PM EDT
Canadian company Lucara Diamonds has discovered a 2,492-carat diamond in Botswana, making it the second largest diamond ever discovered in the world.and is expected to be presented to the country’s president, Mokweetsi Masisi, on Thursday, the government said.
“The precious stone to be presented to the president is the largest diamond to date in Botswanabut the second largest in the world,” the government of the southern African nation reported late on Wednesday.
The Canadian corporation will officially present the gem to the head of state at a public event.
“This remarkable find, one of the largest rough diamonds ever unearthed, was detected and recovered using X-ray transmission technology,” Lucara Diamonds said in a statement.
The stone was discovered at the Karowe diamond mine in the north-central part of the country, “a world-class asset” in the large diamond market, the company said.
“Extraordinary and intact” diamond
“This discovery reinforces Karowe’s position as a truly world-class diamond mine and highlights the continued success of our operational and underground development strategy,” said Lucara President William Lamb.
“We are delighted with the recovery of this extraordinary 2,492-carat diamond (…). The ability to recover such a large, high-quality stone intact demonstrates the effectiveness of our approach to diamond recovery,” Lamb added.
The historical ranking is led by the “Cullinan” diamond, discovered in South Africa in 1905 with 3,106 carats, which is part of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom.
Third place goes to the 1,758-carat “Sewelo” diamond, also found by Lucara Diamonds in Botswana in 2019.
Located in Southern Africa, Botswana, an arid country of just over 2.5 million inhabitants, is one of the world’s largest diamond producers, with an industry that accounts for around 80% of its total exports.
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