The world’s second-largest diamond has been discovered in a Botswana mine, one of the leading diamond producers globally, as announced by a Canadian mining company on Thursday.
The enormous 2,492-carat diamond was unearthed at the Karowe Diamond Mine in northeastern Botswana using x-ray detection technology, according to Lucara Diamond Corp.
Lucara did not disclose the diamond’s value or quality. However, in terms of carat size, this diamond is second only to the 3,016-carat Cullinan Diamond found in South Africa in 1905.
“We are thrilled by the discovery of this extraordinary 2,492-carat diamond,” said Lucara president William Lamb in the statement.
Photos released by the company show the diamond is nearly the size of a human palm.
The diamond, described as “one of the largest rough diamonds ever unearthed,” was detected using the company’s Mega Diamond Recovery X-ray technology, which was installed in 2017 to identify and preserve large, high-value diamonds.
Botswana’s President Mokgweetsi Masisi was expected to view the massive diamond later on Thursday. His government confirmed that it is the second largest in the world.
Tobias Kormind, managing director of Europe’s largest online diamond jeweler, 77 Diamonds, verified that this is the largest rough diamond found since the Cullinan Diamond, parts of which are now part of the British crown jewels.
“This discovery is largely due to newer technology that allows larger diamonds to be extracted without breaking into pieces. We can expect more discoveries like this,” Kormind said.
Botswana, one of the world’s largest diamond producers, relies heavily on diamond exports, which make up 30 percent of its GDP and 80 percent of its total exports.
Prior to this, the largest diamond found in Botswana was a 1,758-carat stone mined by Lucara at the Karowe mine in 2019, named Sewelo.
In 2021, Lucara discovered a 1,174-carat diamond in Botswana using the same x-ray technology.
