Huge African diamond is second-largest ever found

Canadian mining company Lucara Diamond has claimed that it has found the second-largest diamond ever discovered on Earth. In a statement on its official website on Wednesday, the company reported that the gemstone weighs in at an exceptional 2,492 carats.

The diamond is said to have been found in Lucara’s Karowe Diamond Mine in the southern African nation of Botswana. It was detected and recovered using the company’s Mega Diamond Recovery X-ray Transmission (XRT) technology, which it has been using since 2017 to identify and preserve large, high-value diamonds.

“We are ecstatic about the recovery of this extraordinary 2,492 carat diamond. This find not only showcases the remarkable potential of our Karowe Mine, but also upholds our strategic investment in cutting-edge XRT technology. The ability to recover such a massive, high-quality stone intact demonstrates the effectiveness of our approach to diamond recovery,” Lucara President and CEO William Lamb said in a statement.

Previously, the same company had also mined the 1,758-carat Sewelo diamond in 2019 and the 1,109-carat Lesedi La Rona in 2015 at the same mine. 

The record for the largest diamond ever mined still belongs to the 3,106-carat Cullinan Diamond which was discovered in 1902 in South Africa and was later cut into over 100 stones, including the 530.5-carat Cullinan I, the largest clear-cut diamond in the world. The stone has since been mounted on the head of the Sceptre with the Cross of the Crown Jewels of England.