Miners from Debswana Diamond Co. in Botswana, they discovered an impressive 1,098-carat diamond, the largest since the company began operations five decades ago.
Preliminary analysis shows that the stone is the third largest gemstone in the world, after the Cullinan diamond, discovered in South Africa in 1905, and the Lesedi la Rona, discovered in Botswana in 2015, according to the company’s acting director. Debswana Lynette Armstrong.
The giant gem was discovered on June 1 at the Jwaneng mine in southern Botswana, which is considered the most valuable mine in the world, according to Bloomberg.
Botswana is the leading diamond producer in Africa, reports The Guardian, and it is also there that the mine was discovered in 2015, the world’s second largest diamond – a 1,109 carat stone called Lesedi la Rona.
The largest diamond in the world, called Cullinan, is larger than the two runners-up combined; this stone was 3,106 carats when it was discovered in South Africa in 1905. In 1908, the gemstone was cut into about 100 pieces, the largest piece of 530 carats being sent to London, where it adorned the top of the royal scepter.
Debswana Diamond Co. is a division of De Beers Plc and is a 50/50 partnership between Botswana and De Beers for the extraction of precious stones in the South West African country. Last year, the company produced 16.6 million carats, compared to 23.3 million carats in 2019.
The new stone will be valued in the coming weeks, after which the state-owned diamond trading company in Botswana may decide whether to buy it from Debswana or allow De Beers Plc to sell it, Bloomberg reports.
Botswana relies on diamonds for 90% of its exports. Last year, total rough diamond sales in the country fell by 30% to $ 2.1 billion as mines halted production due to the coronavirus pandemic.
