Botswana finds world’s '2nd largest diamond'

JOHANNESBURG

An exceptional 2,492-carat diamond has been found at the Karowe Diamond Mine in Botswana, a mineral-rich country in southern Africa.

According to a statement from the Canadian mining company Lucara Diamond Corp, the diamond could be one of the largest rough diamonds ever unearthed.

‘‘This discovery underscores Karowe's reputation as a world-class asset and reaffirms Lucara's position as a leading producer of large, exceptional diamonds. This latest recovery joins an impressive roster of other significant finds from the mine, including the 1,758-carat Sewelo and the 1,109-carat Lesedi La Rona,’’ it said.

Botswana is well known for producing large diamonds. In 2019, the second-largest diamond in history was found in Botswana by Lucara Diamond. The unbroken 1,758-carat stone was unearthed through the state-of-the-art XRT circuit technology commissioned in Botswana in 2015.

In 2015, another unbroken 1,109-carat diamond called Lesedi La Rona was unearthed at Karowe mine. It was known to be the second largest in the world at the time.

The gem was sold in 2017 to a London jeweler for $53 million.

The world’s largest diamond was 3,106 carats found in South Africa in 1905.​​​​​​​