Botswana: The world’s second largest diamond ever, has been found by a Canadian company – Lucara Diamond in Botswana. The 2,492-carat diamond was found in Karowe Diamond Mine, which is managed by the company.
Reportedly, it is the one of the largest diamonds that has ever been found and was excavated in Botswana at a mine owned by the Canadian firm Lucara Diamond.
The 2,492-carat diamond is the world’s second-largest discovery and comes out to be as more than a century after a 3,106-carat gem, that was found in South Africa in 1905.
As per the reports, the stone is known as the Cullinan Diamond was cut into nine large pieces and many of which were incorporated into the British Crown Jewels.
Canadian company Lucara said that, the gem was discovered at the Karowe Diamond Mine in the North-Eastern Botswana via X-ray technology. The mining company did not provide a value for the ‘high-quality’ stone.
President and CEO of Lucara – William Lamb said that they are ecstatic about the recovery of the extraordinary 2,492 carat diamond.
Lamb added to his statement that this finding showcases the remarkable potential of the Karowe Mine and also upholds the strategic investment in cutting-edge (X-ray Transmission) technology.
Following this, the photographs of the same were published on Getty Images on Thursday that showed Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi holding the 2,492-carat diamond at his office in the capital of Gaborone.
Botswana, is one considered to be one of the world’s largest diamond producers after Russia, accounting for 20% of global production last year, in 2023.
CEO Lucara said that the discovery was followed by other significant findings from the Same Karowe Diamond Mine, including the 1,758-carat Sewelo diamond in 2019 and the 1,109-carat Lesedi la Rona Diamond in 2015.
As per a fact, the French fashion brand – Louis Vuitton bought the Sewelo Diamond for an unrevealed sum in the year 2019.
Whereas, the Lesedi La Rona Diamond was sold for $53 million to British Multinational Jeweler Graff Diamonds in the year 2017. The 1,109-carat diamond was unearthed at the same mine in 2016, and was bought for $53m by London Jeweller, in 2017, Laurence Graff, who is the chairman of Graff Diamonds.
Moreover, Lucara has 100% ownership of the mine in Karowe.
Notably, Botswana’s government has proposed a law that will ask companies, once granted a license to mine, to sell a 24% stake to local firms if the government does not exercise its option of becoming a shareholder.