The third largest diamond in the world has been unearthed in Botswana. Miners uncovered a 1,098-carat diamond in the Jwaneng mine in southern Botswana which is considered the world’s most valuable mine.
A spokesperson from mining company Debswana, a joint venture between the De Beers Corporation and the government of Botswana said that the gemstone is the largest diamond ever discovered in the company’s five-decade history.
Africa’s leading diamond producer
Botswana is Africa’s leading diamond producer and is also home to the mine where the world’s second-largest diamond, a 1,109-carat stone called the Lesedi La Rona was unearthed in 2015. The world’s biggest diamond, called the Cullinan, is larger than the two runners-up combined; that stone measured 3,106 carats when it was discovered in South Africa in 1905.
In 1908, the titanic gem was cut into about 100 pieces, with the largest 530-carat chunk shipped off to London, where it adorns the top of the British Sovereign’s Royal Scepter (one of the Crown Jewels of England stashed in the Tower of London, as Live Science previously reported.)
The new stone will be appraised in the coming weeks, at which point Botswana’s state-owned diamond trading company can decide whether to buy it from Debswana or let De Beers sell it, Bloomberg reported.
