Biggest 2,492 carats diamond in over a century found in Botswana, can anyone guess the cost?

Gaborone, August 22

The largest diamond found in more than a century has been unearthed at a mine in Botswana, and the country’s president showed off the fist-sized stone to the world at a viewing ceremony on Thursday.

The Botswana government says the huge 2,492-carat stone is the second-biggest ever discovered in a mine. It’s the biggest diamond found since 1905.

The as-yet-unnamed diamond was presented to the world at the office of Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi. It weighs approximately half a kilogram and Masisi was one of the first to get to hold it.

Officials said it was too early to value it or decide how it would be sold. Another smaller diamond from the same mine in Botswana was sold for USD 63 million in 2016, a record for a rough gem.

“This is history in the making,” said Naseem Lahri, the Botswana managing director for Lucara Diamond Corp, the Canadian mining company that found the diamond. “I am very proud. It is a product of Botswana.”

Lucara said in a statement on Wednesday that it recovered the “exceptional” rough diamond from its Karowe Mine in central Botswana. It was a “high-quality” stone found intact using X-ray technology designed to find large diamonds, the mining company added.

“We are ecstatic about the recovery of this extraordinary 2,492-carat diamond,” Lucara President and CEO William Lamb said in a statement.

The weight would make it the largest diamond found in 119 years and the second-largest ever dug out of a mine after the Cullinan Diamond that was discovered in South Africa in 1905. The famous Cullinan was 3,106 carats and was cut into gems, some of which form part of the British Crown Jewels.