Africa's leading diamond producer, Botswana, has reinforced its status as a global powerhouse in the gemstone industry after a massive 1,305.4-carat diamond was recovered from the country's renowned Karowe mine, adding yet another extraordinary discovery to its record of producing some of the world's largest and most valuable diamonds.
The latest find, announced by Lucara Diamond Corp, marks the tenth diamond weighing more than 1,000 carats to be recovered from the Karowe mine, an achievement unmatched by any other diamond mine in history.
Mining Weekly reports that the enormous gem was recovered using the mine's Mega Diamond Recovery X-ray Transmission (XRT) technology, which is specifically designed to identify and preserve exceptionally large diamonds without breaking them during processing.
Lucara President and CEO William Lamb described the discovery as another defining moment for the mine.
"The recovery of our tenth diamond exceeding 1,000 carats is another extraordinary milestone for Karowe and further demonstrates the singular nature of this world-class orebody. No diamond mine in history has consistently produced diamonds of this magnitude, and Karowe continues to set itself apart on the global stage," Lamb said.
