Canadian Firm Lucara Unveils World’s Second-Largest Diamond from Botswana
By Canadian-based mining company Lucara Diamond reported it has found what it described as the world's second-largest diamond. This 2,492-carat diamond was found in the Karowe Diamond Mine in Botswana, unearthed using the company's advanced X-ray transmission technology.
Lucara did not disclose the value of the diamond, but this find, in any case, marks an important landmark for the industry. More than a century after the largest diamond ever found, the 3,106-carat Cullinan Diamond was unearthed in South Africa in 1905, comes this discovery. The Cullinan Diamond was later cut into nine large pieces, some of which were sewed into the British crown jewels.
Lucara President and CEO William Lamb commented, "The recovery of a gem-quality 341-carat diamond continues to underpin the potential of the Karowe Mine and why we invested so heavily in the development of leading technology for underground mining. The diamond was mined from EM/PK kimberlite processing at the Mine, which has also yielded the historic finds of its past notable recoveries, the 1,758-carat Sewelô and the 1,109-carat Lesedi La Rona."
Botswana has 2.6 million people and is the second-biggest supplier of natural diamonds in the world, after Russia. Botswana has produced some of the largest diamonds mined over the last few years. Over the past decade, four diamonds mined at the Karowe Mine were over 1,000 carats.
Diamond trade has been the central factor that has placed Botswana at the very top of diamond trading. This would be in regard to DTCB, with a valuation capacity estimated to be as high as 45 million carats annually. Besides mining, the diamond industry contributes to national development through funding education and health.
However, it is highly susceptible to international demand and the sector was dealt a severe blow during the pandemic. Even as the industry brings in a third of Botswana's total revenues and 80 percent of its foreign exchange earnings, mineral revenues are long-term declining, mainly because of high and mounting costs, especially in the diamond sector.