Photo: World second largest diamond in over a century discovered in Botswana

A high quality diamond said to be the biggest discovery in more than a century has been discovered at a mine in Botswana, said mine company, Lucara Diamond Corp.


"The magnificent stone, which originated from the south lobe of Lucara's Karowe Mine, is the world second largest gem quality diamond ever recovered and largest ever to be recovered through a modern processing facility," the company said a statement.

Shares in Lucara shot up 34 percent to 14.2 kronor in morning Thursday trading in Stockholm after news of the 1,111 carat gem was made public. Botswana is the world's second biggest diamond producer, and Lucara said the gem was the largest ever to be recovered in the country.

"The significance of the recovery of a gem quality stone larger than 1,000 carats, the largest for more than a century....cannot be overstated," said William Lamb, the President and chief executive of Lucara. The stone is yet to be evaluated, but commodities and mining analyst Kieron Hodgson, said it has "the potential to be one very expensive diamond." Valuation will depend on potential inclusions, how it would behave in cutting, optimal shape as well as final colour," he told AFP. "All these things will need to be evaluated prior to bidding." he added.

The biggest diamond discovered is the 3,106-carat Cullinan, found near Pretoria in South Africa in 1905.

Lucara indicated on its website that the Karowe Mine had also this week turned up further finds -- an 813 carat stone and a 374 carat stone, prompting Lamb to laud "an amazing week" for the company.

Source: Lucara Diamond Corps/AFP