Categories: Fashion

World’s second largest diamond found in Botswana

By

AFP

Published



Aug 24, 2024

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.

AFP

The diamond was discovered in the Karowe Diamond Mine in northeastern Botswana using x-ray detection technology, Lucara Diamond Corp. said in a statement.

Lucara did not give a value for the find or mention its quality. But 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 about the recovery of this extraordinary 2,492-carat diamond,” Lucara president William Lamb said in the statement.

Pictures released by the company show the diamond is as large as the palm of a hand.

This find was “one of the largest rough diamonds ever unearthed” and was detected using the company’s Mega Diamond Recovery X-ray technology installed in 2017 to identify and preserve large, high-value diamonds, the statement said.

Botswana’s President Mokgweetsi Masisi was due to view the massive stone later Thursday. His government said it was the second biggest in the world.

Tobias Kormind, managing director of Europe’s largest online diamond jeweller, 77 Diamonds, confirmed it was the largest rough diamond to be unearthed since the Cullinan Diamond, parts of which adorn Britain’s crown jewels.

“This discovery is largely thanks to newer technology that allows larger diamonds to be extracted from the ground without breaking into pieces. So we will likely see more where this came from,” he said.

Botswana is one of the world’s largest producers of diamonds, its main source of income, accounting for 30 percent of GDP and 80 percent of its exports.

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.

Lucara found a 1,174-carat diamond stone in Botswana in 2021 using the same x-ray technology.
 

Copyright © 2024 AFP. All rights reserved. All information displayed in this section (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the contents of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presses.

News Today

Share
Published by
News Today

Recent Posts

Kareena Kapoor’s Next Untitled Film With Meghna Gulzar Gets Prithviraj Sukumaran On Board

Kareena Kapoor is working with Raazi director Meghna Gulzar for her next film. The project,…

20 hours ago

Purdue basketball freshman Daniel Jacobsen injured vs Northern Kentucky

2024-11-09 15:00:03 WEST LAFAYETTE -- Daniel Jacobsen's second game in Purdue basketball's starting lineup lasted…

20 hours ago

Rashida Jones honors dad Quincy Jones with heartfelt tribute: ‘He was love’

2024-11-09 14:50:03 Rashida Jones is remembering her late father, famed music producer Quincy Jones, in…

20 hours ago

Nosferatu Screening at Apollo Theatre Shows Student Interest in Experimental Cinema – The Oberlin Review

2024-11-09 14:40:03 A silent German expressionist film about vampires accompanied by Radiohead’s music — what…

20 hours ago

What Are Adaptogens? Find Out How These 3 Herbs May Help You Tackle Stress Head-On

Let's face it - life can be downright stressful! With everything moving at breakneck speed,…

20 hours ago

The new Mac Mini takes a small step towards upgradeable storage

Apple’s redesigned Mac Mini M4 has ditched the previous M2 machine’s SSD that was soldered…

20 hours ago