Gaby
The uncut diamond weighs an astonishing 2,492 carats. Workers from Lucara Diamond discovered it 500 kilometers from Gaborone, Botswana’s capital.
This giant stone is the second-largest by weight after the legendary Cullinan diamond, which weighs 3,106 carats (621 grams). The Cullinan was found in 1905 in a South African mine.
What We Know About the Discovery
The newly found diamond was extracted in Botswana using a technology known as Mega Diamond Recovery X-ray Transmission, or MDR XRT.
This is significant because valuable finds can be damaged during mining. The company said the MDR XRT technology works “like a baggage scanner at the airport,” preventing damage to recovered gemstones.
William Lamb, the company’s president and CEO, said his team is “thrilled with the discovery.” Lucara is no stranger to major finds: its employees previously uncovered the 1,109-carat Lesedi La Rona and the 1,758-carat Sewelô. The Sewelô was considered the largest diamond ever mined in Botswana and was purchased by Louis Vuitton.
Diamonds of this caliber are important not only as future status symbols but also because they can reveal the planet’s history. For instance, a study last year analyzed “ultra-deep” diamonds dated between 650 and 450 million years old that were found in Brazil and West Africa. The study shed light on the formation of the ancient supercontinent Gondwana.
