When huge diamonds (raw diamond) are discovered, it’s kind of a big deal. That’s why one of the recent discoveries made by diamond company known as Lucara Diamond Corp. is making headlines this week.
The company was taking on business as usual, mining for diamonds in the Karowe Mine in Botswana, when it suddenly came across a massive 1,111-carat gem-quality diamond. It measures in at 65mm x 56mm x 40mm in size.
It’s the largest diamond ever discovered in Botswana, and it’s definitely up there as one of the largest gem-quality diamonds ever discovered in recorded human history, right behind the super large 3,106 carat Cullinan diamond that currently holds the world’s first-place spot as the largest gem-quality diamond ever discovered; it’s referred to as a type IIa diamond.
Lucara President and CEO William Lamb notes that the discovery is is going down in history as a record-breaking event. It’s the first time that such a large diamond has been discovered in Botswana with modern diamond-mining equipment, a Large Diamond Recovery ("LDR") XRT machine, as diamonds this big haven’t been uncovered in Botswana for over a century.
This historic diamond recovery puts Lucara and the Karowe mine amongst a select number of truly exceptional diamond producers. The significance of the recovery of a gem quality stone larger than 1,000 carats, the largest for more than a century and the continued recovery of high quality stones from the south lobe, cannot be overstated. Our focus on mining the south lobe, which is delivering value beyond expectation, has been perfectly timed with the commissioning of our recent plant modifications, enabling the recovery of these large, high quality exceptional diamonds.
There is not yet any word on how much the diamond will be worth, but one can only speculate that it would be worth more than just a few million dollars considering a perfected 100 carat diamond once went for about $22.1 million in New York.
Diamonds are found all the time, and if you’re one to enjoy trying your luck, you might try visiting the Crater of Diamonds state park in Arkansas, in which a woman recently uncovered an 8.52-carat diamond that she was able to take home.
Source: Lucara Diamond
