Editor’s Note
This article reports on the discovery of the largest diamond found in over a century, unearthed in Botswana and presented by the country’s president. The story details the stone’s remarkable size and characteristics, as well as its significance for the local mining industry.
The largest diamond discovered in over a century has been unearthed at a mine in Botswana, with the country’s president showcasing the fist-sized stone to the world during a ceremony on Thursday.
This enormous 2,492-carat diamond is the second-largest ever discovered in a mine and the largest found since 1905, the Botswana government stated. The diamond, whose name has not yet been revealed, was presented to the world in the office of Botswana’s President Mokgweetsi Masisi. It weighs approximately half a kilogram, and Mr. Masisi was among the first to hold it.
He then exclaimed “wow” before inviting senior government officials to come and examine it more closely.
Officials indicated it was too early to evaluate the stone or decide how it would be sold. Another smaller diamond from the same mine in Botswana was sold for US$63 million in 2016, a record for a rough stone.
Lucara stated in a release on Wednesday that it had recovered the “exceptional” rough diamond from its Karowe mine in central Botswana. The miner specified it was a “high-quality” stone and had been found intact. It was located using X-ray technology designed to find large, high-value diamonds.
Its weight makes it the largest diamond discovered in 119 years and the second-largest ever extracted from a mine after the Cullinan diamond, discovered in South Africa in 1905. The famous Cullinan weighed 3,106 carats and was cut into gemstones, some of which are part of the British Crown Jewels. A larger, less pure black diamond was discovered in Brazil in the late 1800s, but it was found on the Earth’s surface and was thought to be part of a meteorite.
Botswana, a country of 2.6 million people in Southern Africa, is the second-largest producer of natural diamonds behind Russia and has unearthed all of the world’s largest stones in recent years. The Karowe mine has produced four other diamonds of over 1,000 carats in the past decade.
Prior to this discovery, the Sewelo diamond, found at the Karowe mine in 2019, was recognized as the second-largest diamond extracted worldwide at 1,758 carats. It was purchased by the French fashion house 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 jeweler for US$53 million in 2017. Another Karowe diamond, The Constellation, was sold for a record US$63 million.
Diamonds form when carbon atoms are compressed together under high pressure deep underground. Scientists state that most diamonds are at least one billion years old, with some being over 3 billion years old.