Botswana has announced that a huge 2.492-carat diamond has been unearthed in a mine and that it will be on public display today.
The announcement states that it is the largest diamond ever discovered in that country and the second largest ever extracted from a mine.
Canadian mining company Lukara Diamond has announced that it has found an "exceptional" rough diamond from the Karowe mine in western Botswana. The company says it is a "high-quality stone" and was found intact with the help of X-ray technology.
Weighing 2.492 carats, it would make it the largest diamond found in the last 100 years and the second largest ever mined after the Kulinan diamond discovered in South Africa in 1905. The Kulinan had 3.106 carats and was cut into gems, some of which form part of the British Crown Jewels.
A larger, black diamond was discovered in Brazil in the late 1800s, but was found on the surface and is believed to have been part of a meteorite.
Botswana is the second largest producer of diamonds and has unearthed all the largest stones in the world in recent years.
Before this discovery, the Sevelo diamond, which was found in the Karove mine in 2019, was recognized as the second largest mined diamond in the world with 1.758 carats. It was bought by the French fashion house Louis Vuitton for an undisclosed amount. The 1.111-carat Lesedi La Rona diamond, also from the Karove mine in Botswana, was bought by a British jeweler for $53 million in 2017.
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