Posted on 11/19/2015 9:01:52 AM PST by Red Badger
A picture from the Lucara Diamond Corporation of the 1,111 carat gem quality, Type IIa diamond ============================================================================================================================================
A 1,111 carat "high quality diamond" has been discovered at a mine in Botswana, said to be the biggest find in more than a century, according to the mine company.
The gem, only second in size to the Cullinan diamond which was unearthered in South Africa in 1905, was mined by 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 Stockholm listed company said a statement.
Shares in Lucara shot up 34 percent to 14.2 kronor in morning Thursday trading in Stockholm.
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."
The 1,111 carat stone is the world's second largest gem quality diamond ever recovered
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The biggest diamond discovered is the 3,106-carat Cullinan, found near Pretoria in South Africa in 1905.
It was cut to form the Great Star of Africa and the Lesser Star of Africa, which are set in the Crown Jewels of Britain.
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.
I had my mother turned into diamonds when she died, not that big though.
I’ve seen a replica of the Cullinan diamond.....it wasn’t anywhere near as clear as this one......very impressive.
This belongs on some big man hands....Bruce Jenner?
Oi, what a rock!
Botswana, kindly mail it back to me. Don't forget the postal insurance. On receipt of the stone, I will forward to you all necessary proof of prior ownership.
They had a huge diamond at the 65 Worlds Fair. It was actually a hologram. You were encouraged to take it. Of course it disappeared when your hand touched it.
I was going to make a joke about zircoion cut glass...Bugs entered my mind and bang...there is Bugs.
How come Bugs Bunny never won a courage award?
He was wearing dresses long before Caytlin/Bruce/Lucy/Trent/Jenner was.
:-)
My immediate thought. Thank you.
If it was “found” then it must have been “lost”. If it was lost then it should be returned to the former owners.
Or maybe it was discovered?
"..Botswana SMOTSWANA!...I kicked it out of my litter box last month and it went out the window on 7th street in Hoboken NJ "
If I found this rock on the beach or in a creek bed I would probably think it was a big piece of glass.
I swear we humans have some strange habits when we put a value to this thing.
Put a ring on it.
No reason to cut it, IMO. It's absolutely gorgeous as is.
never heard of that
I agree. If I can get DeBeers to put value on mud, I will be rich!
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