The diamond was discovered in Botswana and is the largest diamond ever found in the nation
The biggest diamond in over 100 years has been found in Botswana – but we’re sorry to report it’s probably a bit outside your price range.
The world is full of expensive luxuries, but one thing that has remained a symbol of wealth is diamonds.
Not exactly sure why precious jewels have always been so well sought after, but I guess our collective monkey brain went ‘shiny rock good’ and we all concluded ‘yeah, sounds about right’.
So you can only imagine the smiles and wonder when the world’s second largest diamond was discovered recently in Botswana.
The diamond is reportedly a rough 2,492-carat stone and was unearthed at a mine owned by Canadian firm Lucara Diamond.
And just so we are all on the same page, diamonds of this size aren’t found on the regular or every 10 or 20 years. In fact, it is has been over 100 years since a rock this size has been found.
It is the largest find since the 3,106-carat Cullinan diamond, ‘found’ in South Africa in 1905.
This stone was subsequently cut into nine separate stones, many of which are in the British Crown Jewels. And understandably, not everyone is happy about this fact.
Lucara has issued a statement following the discovery, but kept quiet about its potential worth.
The Lucara head William Lamb said: “[It is] one of the largest rough diamonds ever unearthed.
“We are ecstatic about the recovery of this extraordinary 2,492 carat diamond.
While the firm didn’t give any details about its worth, UK-based Financial Times newspaper claimed to have spoken to people close to Lucara.
They reported that the stone could be worth upwards of $40m.
So where was it found?
Well, the diamond was found at the Karowe mine, about 300 miles from Botswana’s capital, Gaborone.
But if you thought you might grab your shovel and your mates and try and find your own fortune in the area you would be out of luck, because Lucara has 100 percent ownership of the mine in Karowe.
The mine has also made massive discoveries in the past, in 2019 a 1,758-carat stone was found.
So it might not surprise you that Botswana is one of the world’s biggest producers of diamonds, accounting for about 20 percent of global production.
But unless you just happen to be a cash rich millionaire, chances are you probably won’t be putting in a bid for this particular rock. Maybe the next one.
