Miners in Botswana have discovered a massive 2,492-carat diamond, officials announced on Wednesday, Fox News reported.
Botswana has made headlines with the discovery of one of the largest diamonds ever recovered from a mine. The 2,492-carat find was unearthed at the Karowe mine, operated by Canadian mining company Lucara Diamond Corp. This is no stranger to major discoveries at the mine, which has previously produced four diamonds weighing over 1,000 carats. According to To Fox News.
2,492-carat diamond unearthed in Botswana, one of the largest ever https://t.co/8dmieobdPK
— Fox News (@FoxNews) August 22, 2024
The newly discovered diamond is the second largest diamond ever found in a mine, after the Cullinan Diamond, which was found in South Africa in 1905 and weighed 3,106 carats. According to Fox News, the Cullinan Diamond has since been cut into multiple pieces and is now one of the British Crown Jewels. Lucara used advanced X-ray technology to recover the rough diamond intact.
Botswana's President Mokgwetsi Masisi looks at a large diamond discovered in Botswana in his presidential office in Gaborone on August 22, 2024. (Photo: Monilul Bhuiyan/AFP via Getty Images)
Miners at the Karowe mine previously uncovered the gigantic 1,758-carat Sewero diamond, discovered in 2019. It was the second-largest diamond in the world at the time, according to the media. French fashion house Louis Vuitton bought the gem for an undisclosed amount. The mine also produced the 1,111-carat Lesedi la Rona diamond, purchased by a British jeweler in 2017 for $53 million. (Related: Song about 1950s gay coal miners touted as “counterpoint” to “Try It in a Small Town”)
Botswana's President Mokgwetsi Masisi unveiled the diamond at the Presidential Palace on Thursday.
