A Canadian mining company announced on Wednesday, August 21, that their crews unearthed a 2,492-carat diamond stone in Botswana.
According to Lucara Diamond Corp, the rock was detected and recovered using X-ray technology, which identifies and preserves “large, high-value diamonds” at its Karowe diamond mine.
The discovery is the second-largest diamond ever found on Earth, after the 3,106-carat Cullinan diamond found in South Africa in 1905, which was cut into gems, some of which form part of the British Crown Jewels.
Footage posted on the official Facebook page of Botswana’s President Mokgweetsi Masisi on Thursday shows him holding and staring in awe at the large diamond at his office in Gaborone. “Well done, really, this is precious,” Masisi says.
Officials said it was too early to value the stone or decide how it would be sold, reports said. Credit: President Mokgweetsi Masisi via Storyful