Botswana Miners Found One Of The World's Largest Diamond Weighing 1.098 Carats

President Mokgweetsi Masisi shows the diamonds found. (Facebook/BWgovernment)

JAKARTA - The government of Botswana officially announced the discovery of one of the largest diamonds in the world, proof that this country located on the African continent has astonishing potential for diamonds.

Weighing in at 1.098 carats, the stone believed to be the third-largest gem-quality diamond ever found was handed over to President Mokgweetsi Masisi on Wednesday 16 June.

The diamond was discovered in early June at the Jwaneng Mine, about 75 miles from the nation's capital, Gaborone. The mine is operated by Debswana, a diamond company jointly owned by the Government of Botswana and the De Beers Group, according to its official website.

Cited from CNN, in a post on the official Twitter account, the Botswana Government wrote, "the proceeds from the diamonds will be used to advance national development in this country".

Presentation of diamonds to President Mokgweetsi Masisi. (Facebook/BWgovernment)

"Debswana should use this latest discovery as a turning point, for the mine to use its technology to realize more of these great discoveries", the tweet added.

President Masi's office also posted a series of pictures showing the diamond being shown to the president and his cabinet.

"The Jwaneng mine, which was officially opened in 1982, typically produces between 12.5 million and 15 million carats of diamonds annually", said Debswana.

Meanwhile, the Botswana government called this lunar gem discovery the largest the company has excavated since diamonds were first discovered in Botswana in 1967, the government said.

The diamonds will be used to fund development in Botswana. (Facebook/BWgovernment)

Currently, the largest diamond ever found and recorded is the Cullinan Diamond weighing 3.106 carats, discovered in South Africa in 1905. The Cullinan was later cut into smaller stones, some of which were part of the crown jewels of the British royal family.

The second-largest discovery is believed to be Lesedi La Rona, a 1.109-carat stone discovered by Canadian company Lucara Diamond at the Karowe mine, also in Botswana, in 2015. The diamond was sold to luxury jeweler Graff for 53 million US dollars two years later.

Rough diamonds are usually classified as gem quality, near gem, or industrial quality, depending on their color, clarity, size, and shape.

Prior to this discovery, a large diamond was also found in Botswana in 2019. Dubbed 'Sewel' and weighing 1.758 carats, experts say the diamond cannot be considered completely gem quality.

Botswana diamonds. (Facebook/BWgovernment)

However, the precious stone was purchased by French luxury fashion brand Louis Vuitton in 2020 for an undisclosed amount.

Speaking to CNN at the time of Sewel's discovery, Rob Bates, a blogger in the diamond and jewelry industry said only a 'few' of companies in the world knew how to cut large, rough diamonds economically.

"But it's always a happy moment when a mine takes out such a big rock. It's good for business, good for the country of Botswana".