It took more than 100 years to beat the record and unearth a natural diamond that could compete with the legendary 3,106-carat Cullinan Stone from South Africa.
It became possible to discover this notable stone thanks to Lucara Diamond Corp. company’s Mega Diamond Recovery (MDR) X-ray Transmission (XRT) system, specifically developed to detect and preserve huge and valuable diamonds. The press release stated that it was instrumental in detecting, unearthing, and recovering the precious stone.
The Canadian mining enterprise unveiled on August 22 that the gem, celebrated as one of the largest ever identified, is an incredible 2,492-carat raw diamond from Botswana.
As mentioned by Lucara’s spokeswoman, the extraordinary gem was dug up at the Karowe mine, where a 1,109-carat rough-produced diamond called the Lesedi La Rona was discovered less than ten years ago. In 2017, it was acquired by multinational jeweler Graff for $53 million. Moreover, Lucara Diamond Corp. discovered six of the top ten largest diamonds ever revealed.
The 3,106-carat Cullinan Diamond, which set a new benchmark, was revealed in 1905 at the Premier mine in what is now South Africa. Later on, it was cut into smaller pieces and several of them were lucky to end up in the British royal family’s ceremonial collection.
The newly found treasure needs to be evaluated in the nearest future because natural diamonds are typically categorized as gem-quality, near-gem, or industrial-quality. This classification is based on certain characteristics like clarity, hue, and size and determines the future use of the stone.
The president and CEO of Lucara, William Lamb, stated in the release that the company is thrilled to recover this remarkable 2,492-carat wonder; according to Reuters, it was shown to Botswana’s President Mokgweetsi Masisi. In July, Botswana, the world’s leading diamond producer by value, proposed a law requiring resource extraction firms to sell a 24% stake in their mines to domestic investors once granted licenses unless the government opts to obtain the shares, according to Reuters.
