Diamonds are ancient relics from the Earth’s past. Most people encounter diamonds as small sparkling gems embedded in rings, necklaces and other jewelry—but diamonds can be enormous. The Lucara Diamond Corp. announced the recovery of a fist-sized 2,492-carat diamond from the Karowe Mine in Botswana. It’s one of the largest rough diamonds ever discovered.
Lucara shared photos of the diamond held in a human hand and next to other objects—including tweezers and a golf ball—for scale. The images show just how huge the diamond is. The Botswana government described the stone as the second-largest diamond in the world in a Facebook post after the big rock was presented to Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi.
A 3,106-carat diamond found in 1905 in South Africa holds the Guinness World Record for the largest diamond. The diamond was called “The Cullinan” and was cut into smaller diamonds. The largest pieces are part of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom. The newly discovered giant diamond has not been given a name yet.
Previously, Lucara had discovered a 1,758-carat diamond in 2019 that was declared the largest diamond ever recovered in Botswana at the time. The dark-looking stone became part of a 2020 collaboration between Lucara and French fashion house Louis Vuitton. The fate of the much larger diamond has not been announced.
Lucara used its “Mega Diamond Recovery X-ray Transmission” technology to identify the diamond in kimberlite ore. Kimberlite is a rock formed when magma cools. It’s known to harbor diamonds. The X-ray technology helps differentiate diamonds from crushed ore so the system can sort the valuable stones out from the rock before the diamonds might be damaged through further processing.
Lucara is particularly interested in what it calls “large, exceptional diamonds.” “The ability to recover such a massive, high-quality stone intact demonstrates the effectiveness of our approach to diamond recovery and our commitment to maximizing value for our shareholders and stakeholders,” said William Lamb, Lucara president and CEO. The value of the big diamond will depend on its quality as well as its size. Sizable stones are often cut up into smaller diamonds.
All diamonds are at least 990,000,000 years old and some are over 3 billion years old, according to a fact sheet from the Rausser College of Natural Resources at the University of California, Berkeley. Diamonds have been revered as gemstones and reviled for how proceeds from some diamond sales have funded bloody conflicts in Africa. Lab-grown diamonds have become a popular alternative to natural diamonds.
Lucara is based in Canada. The Karowe Mine is the centerpiece of the company’s activities and has been in production since 2012. “This discovery symbolizes Botswana’s continued ascent as a global leader in diamond production,” Lucara said. “It represents not only the unparalleled wealth found in Botswana’s soil, but also the remarkable progress the nation has made in developing its diamond industry for the benefit of its citizens.”
Lucara ran a naming contest for the 1,758-carat dark diamond found in 2019. The winner was “Sewelo,” which means “rare find.” The mammoth new stone will also need a suitable name, preferably something more poetic than “Jumbo” or “Absolute Unit.”
