Biggest Diamond Since South Africa’s Cullinan Found in Botswana

GABORONE – A 1,111-carat diamond was unearthed in a mine 500 km north of the Botswana capital this week, the biggest diamond find in the country and the largest in more than a century, it was announced on Thursday.

The discovery of the stone, weighing 222 grams, was made at the Karowe mine owned by the Canadian Lucara Diamond Corporation, the firm said in a statement on Wednesday.

“The significance of the recovery of a gem quality stone larger than 1,000 carats, the largest for more than a century … cannot be overstated,” said the firm’s president William Lamb in a statement.

The largest diamond ever found, the 3,106-carat Cullinan, came from outside Pretoria in 1905 and was eventually cut into nine separate stones, many of which, like the Star of Africa, are in the British Crown Jewels.

According to news reports, two other “exceptional” white diamonds – an 813-carat stone and a 374-carat stone – were also found at the Karowe mine.

A value has stil to be put on the large stone, but one report said 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.