The Diamond Found in Botswana is the Second Largest in the World
It is larger than the palm of a hand and weighs just under half a kilogram – the diamond found in Botswana in August 2024. The gem was brought to light by the Canadian mining company Lucara Diamond Corporation. With its 2,492 carats, corresponding to a weight of approximately 468 grams, it is the second largest rough diamond ever found, after the famous Cullinan, which weighed 3,106 carats (just over 621 grams). The company has not yet disclosed the characteristics of the stone or its economic value, which should however be several tens of millions of dollars.
Where and how it Was Discovered
The extraction of the diamond found in Botswana in August 2024 took place at the Karowe mine, located in the northeast of the African state, positioned between Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. The use of advanced X-ray technology called Mega Diamond Recovery was decisive, allowing for the identification of large precious stones and their extraction without the risk of breaking or damaging them. This technology had already been successfully employed in previous years at the same mine and had led to the discovery of large diamonds.
Botswana has been one of the countries known for diamond extraction for decades, although Russia is the world’s largest producer. In recent years, the Botswana government has committed to making the most of this natural resource and obtaining greater benefits for the country. With these objectives, it has concluded an agreement with De Beers, one of the world’s largest diamond companies, to obtain a larger share of profits from diamonds extracted on national territory and retain a portion of the rough stones, which will therefore be processed locally. In this way, the government wants to make Botswana a protagonist in the diamond market.
The Diamond Found in Botswana in the Ranking of the Largest Gems
As we mentioned, this stone has rightfully climbed onto the podium of the world’s largest diamonds.
If we consider rough diamonds, the Cullinan remains firmly in first place in the ranking, the largest rough diamond ever discovered, at 3,106 carats. The discovery dates back to 1905 in a mine in the Transvaal region (now South Africa), which at the time belonged to the British Empire. Its name is a tribute to the mine owner, Sir Thomas Cullinan. Nine diamonds were cut from this stone: the two largest are owned by the British Crown, while the other seven belong to the English royal family.
Second place, with 2,492 carats, is now occupied by the diamond found in Botswana recently (which has not yet received an official name), but for five years it belonged to the Sewelô diamond, at 1,758 carats, discovered in the same mine in 2019. In 2020, the fashion brand Louis Vuitton purchased this stone for an undisclosed amount.
In third place is another diamond also extracted from the same Karowe mine: the Lesedi La Rona, found in 2015, which weighed 1,109 carats at the time of extraction. Its name, in the Tswana language, means “our light.”
The Ranking of Cut Diamonds
If instead we examine cut diamonds, first place goes to the Golden Jubilee, found in South Africa in 1985 in the same mine as the Cullinan. At extraction it weighed 755 carats, after cutting 545.67. Initially called “Unnamed Brown” for its brown color, it took the name Golden Jubilee in 1995, when it was donated to the King of Thailand on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of his coronation.
In second place is the Cullinan I, at 530.20 carats, the largest of the diamonds cut from the Cullinan: it is also called the Star of Africa and is set in the English royal scepter.
On the third step of the podium of cut diamonds we find the Incomparable, at 407.48 carats, called so because it is flawless. It was cut in 1984 from a rough diamond of 890 carats, which had been found by chance by a girl among the waste of a mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo. De Beers had purchased it and then resold it, but the current owner is unknown.
