A huge diamond weighing more than 1,000 carats, which may be the 3rd-largest mined in history, has been discovered in the southern African country of Botswana.
The high-quality gemstone weighing 1,098.3 carats was unearthed earlier this month in the Jwaneng mine owned by Debswana, the mining company jointly owned by the Botswanan government and the De Beers Group.
“With the recent introduction of a modern, state-of-the-art large diamond pilot plant, I have every hope that we will be able to recover more large diamonds,” said Debswana’s acting managing director.
“This by all standards is a great metallurgical achievement, to recover a diamond of this size intact through our conventional ore processing plant,” she said.
The large gemstone is 73 millimeters long, 52 millimeters wide and 27 millimeters thick, and the largest gem-quality diamond found in Debswana’s mines in the company’s more than 50-yr history. Diamonds were discovered in Botswana in Y 1967 and Debswana was formed in Y 1969 to unearth them.
Diamonds account for about 67% of Botswana’s export earnings.
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