RAPAPORT… A 1,758-carat diamond that Lucara Diamond Corp. discovered in Botswana has overtaken the famed Lesedi La Rona as the largest rough stone ever found in the country.
The stone was unearthed at the Karowe mine and has been characterized as near-gem, with its quality varying throughout the diamond, Lucara said last week. Portions of it are
high-quality white gem, the miner explained.
The company extracted the stone in an unbroken state using technology that it commissioned in 2015. Since then, Lucara has recovered
12 diamonds weighing more than 300 carats, two of which — including this find and the 1,109-carat Lesedi La Rona —
were over 1,000 carats. Those stones were both recovered in Karowe’s
high-value south lobe.
“Karowe has now produced two diamonds greater than 1,000
carats in just four years, affirming the coarse nature of the resource and the
likelihood of recovering additional large, high-quality diamonds in the future,
particularly as we mine deeper in the ore body and gain access to the
geologically favorable EM/PK(S) unit, the source of both of our record-breaking,
1,000-plus-carat diamonds,” Lucara CEO Eira Thomas added.
Image: The 1,758-carat diamond. (Lucara Diamond Corp.)
Karowe Mine Yields 1,758ct. Diamond
The Bottom Line
- The 1,758-carat diamond was extracted intact from the Karowe mine using technology commissioned in 2015.
- The stone is near-gem quality with varying clarity, including high-quality white gem portions.
- Karowe has produced two diamonds over 1,000 carats in four years, highlighting the mine's potential for more large, high-quality stones as mining progresses deeper.
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