Largest diamond unearthed by miners in Botswana since 1905

Miners in Botswana made a dazzling discovery this week when they discovered a 2,492-carat diamond that weighed about a pound. The last time miners unearthed a diamond of this size, it was still three years before the Model T Ford rolled off the assembly line.

“This is history in the making” Naseem LahriBotswana director of Lucara Diamond Corp., the Canadian mining company that found the gemstone, tells Sello Motseta about the Associated press (AP). “I am very proud. It is a product of Botswana.”

The new diamond was unearthed at the Karowe mine, about 480 kilometers north of Gaborone, the capital of Botswana. The same mine has produced four other large rough diamonds in the past decade, including the 813-carat Constellation diamond that sold for a premium. record amount of $63 million in 2016.

This week’s find is almost the largest diamond discovered by miners in history, after the 3,106 carats Cullinan diamond found in South Africa in 1905. That gemstone was cut into stones and placed in the English Crown Jewels. That was an even bigger black diamond found in Brazil late 19th century, but experts think one came from a meteorite.

Diamonds in Botswana are found in volcanic features so-called kimberlite pipes. This root-shaped Structures brought rocks formed deep in the Earth’s mantle long ago to the surface during volcanic eruptions. The heat and pressure that rocks experience at great depths, between 150 and 450 kilometers underground, are crucial for the formation of diamonds.

Powerful eruptions, propelled by the expansion of volatile molecules such as carbon dioxide, send magma upward. The fiery material breaks down fragments of diamond-bearing rock and brings them to the surface. Kimberlites probably develop after the breakup of supercontinents as Earth’s mantle churns after catastrophic rupture, according to 2023 study study.

Kimblerlite pipes are rare, and only about one percent of the deposits contain quality diamonds. In the Karowe mine, the diamonds formed deep in the mantle billions of years ago and came to the surface about 15 years ago. 90 million years ago.

“All the stars aligned with that volcanic eruption, and the conditions were just perfect,” Paul Zimniskyan independent analyst in the diamond industry, tells it New York Times‘ Lynsey Chutel.

On Thursday, Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi was one of the first people to take a closer look at the newly discovered diamond. It was big enough to fill his palm.

“It’s overwhelming,” he said, according to the AP. “I’m lucky to have seen it in my time.”

Botswana belongs to the world second largest producer of diamondsresponsible for approximately 20 percent of global production.

Finding great diamonds has become more common in recent years as a result of technological developments. Companies use advanced X-ray equipment to locate large diamonds in the ore, and sophisticated cutting techniques help prevent them from being broken into small pieces during the process of removing the gemstones from their host rocks.

Lucara wants to use these developments with a lofty goal in mind: finding the largest diamond ever.

William Lamb, the company’s CEO, tells the New York Times, “We believe we can eclipse the Cullinan.”