GABORONE, Botswana — Botswana says one of the largest diamonds ever found has been unearthed in one of the country's mines and will be unveiled to the public on Thursday.
Botswana's government believes the 2,492-carat behemoth is the second-largest ever to come out of a mine.
Canadian mining company Lucara Diamonds announced in a statement on Wednesday that it had found an “exceptional” diamond rough at its Karowe mine in Botswana. Lucara said the rough was “high quality” and found intact. Its location was identified using X-ray technology.
“We are thrilled with the recovery of this incredible 2,492 carat diamond,” Lucara president and CEO William Lamb said in a statement.
Its weight makes it the largest diamond found in over 100 years and the second largest diamond ever recovered from a mine after the Cullinan diamond, discovered in South Africa in 1905. The 3,106-carat Cullinan was cut into gemstones, some of which are part of the British Crown Jewels.
An even larger black diamond was discovered in Brazil in the late 1800s, but because it was found on land it was thought to have been part of a meteorite.
The Botswana government has announced that the newly discovered diamond will be unveiled to the world in the office of Botswana's President Mokgwetsi Masisi, who will be one of the first people to see it.
According to the government, this is the largest diamond ever found in South Africa, the world's second-largest diamond producer, where all of the world's largest rough stones have been unearthed in recent years. The Karowe mine has previously produced four diamonds over 1,000 carats.
Prior to this discovery, the Sewero diamond, discovered at the Karowe mine in 2019, was recognized as the second largest mined diamond in the world at 1,758 carats. It was purchased by French fashion brand Louis Vuitton for an undisclosed amount.
The 1,111 carat Lesedi la Rona diamond, also from Botswana's Karowe mine, was purchased by a British jeweller for $53 million in 2017.
Scientists believe that natural diamonds are at least one billion years old, with some even dating back more than three billion years.
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