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Three Huge Diamonds Found in Botswana
The largest diamond ever discovered is the 3,106-carat Cullinan diamond. [royalcollection.org.uk] It was found in January of 1905 and was the only diamond over 1,000 carats. Until now.
Cnet reports that a diamond weighing in at 1,111 carats (222 grams; 5.7 oz) has been found [cnet.com] at the Karowe Mine in Botswana. By comparison, the Hope Diamond [wikipedia.org] weighed 45.5 carats (9.1 grams) and the Taylor–Burton Diamond [wikipedia.org]Taylor–Burton Diamond weighed 68 carats (13.6 grams).
Lucara Diamond Corp — the owners of the mine — reports It is the second largest gem-quality diamond ever found. [mwnewsroom.com]
According to a report in The Guardian :
William Lamb, the company’s chief executive, said Lucara had already been inundated with inquiries from potential buyers, but said it was impossible to price the diamond at this stage. The stone, the second largest ever recovered, was too large to fit inside the company’s own scanner, so it was be[sic] transported to Antwerp for closer inspection.
The company has yet to decide how to sell the stone, but it is likely to be auctioned once it has been prepared for sale. “People are still reeling from the fact that it’s over 1,000 carats,” Lamb said on Thursday.
[...] The Lucara company had used an x-ray processing facility to reduce damage while recovering large diamonds. Had the Karowe mine – which is about 300 miles north of Botswana’s capital, Gaborone – used older equipment, the diamond might have been smashed to pieces along with the rubble removed from the pit. “It would have gone to the pebble crusher and it would have been destroyed,” said Lamb." (emphasis added)
As if that were not enough, Lucara then reported this week [mwnewsroom.com] that it found TWO MORE massive diamonds which weighed in at 813 carats (162.6 grams; 4.2 oz) and 374 carats (74.5 grams; 1.9 oz), respectively!
I deal with diamonds on a regular basis and see many 'nice' stones: near colorless with slight inclusions visible to the naked eye. On rare occasions I come upon a colorless and/or very slightly included stone — the difference in brilliance and fire is striking. To find such a large stone of such good quality (Type IIa [wikipedia.org]) boggles my mind!
