Botswana’s President Mokgweetsi Masisi holds a big diamond found in Botswana at his workplace in Gaborone on August 22, 2024.
Monirul Bhuiyan | Afp | Getty Pictures
One of many largest diamonds ever to be excavated was present in Botswana at a mine owned by Canadian agency Lucara Diamond.
The two,492-carat diamond is the world’s second-largest discovery and comes greater than a century after a 3,106-carat gem was present in South Africa in 1905. That stone, generally known as the Cullinan Diamond, was minimize into 9 giant items, lots of which have been integrated into the British Crown Jewels.
Lucara mentioned on Wednesday that the gem was found on the Karowe Diamond Mine in northeastern Botswana utilizing X-ray expertise. The mining firm didn’t present a worth for the “high-quality” stone.
“We’re ecstatic concerning the restoration of this extraordinary 2,492 carat diamond,” William Lamb, president and CEO of Lucara, mentioned in a press release.
“This discover not solely showcases the outstanding potential of our Karowe Mine, but in addition upholds our strategic funding in cutting-edge [X-ray Transmission] expertise,” he added.
Pictures printed on Getty Pictures on Thursday confirmed Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi holding the two,492-carat diamond at his workplace within the capital of Gaborone.
Botswana is without doubt one of the world’s greatest diamond producers, accounting for 20% of worldwide manufacturing final yr, in keeping with GlobalData.
Botswana’s President Mokgweetsi Masisi holds a big diamond found in Botswana at his workplace in Gaborone on August 22, 2024. The 2492 carat diamond was found within the Karowe mine in Botswana of Lucara Diamond Firm. Botswana is without doubt one of the world’s largest producers of diamonds, which represent its major supply of earnings, representing 30% of GDP and 80% of its exports.
Monirul Bhuiyan | Afp | Getty Pictures
Lucara mentioned the invention adopted different important finds from the identical Karowe Diamond Mine, together with the 1,758-carat Sewelô diamond in 2019 and the 1,109-carat Lesedi La Rona diamond in 2015.
French style model Louis Vuitton purchased the Sewelô diamond for an undisclosed sum in 2020, whereas the Lesedi La Rona diamond offered for $53 million to British multinational jeweler Graff Diamonds in 2017.
