The second-largest diamond ever found, a 2,492-carat rough stone, has been unearthed in Botswana using specialist X-ray technology.
The gem, discovered by Canadian mining company Lucara, is the largest diamond seen in the past 120 years since the discovery of the world-famous Cullinan diamond.
The 3,106-carat stone was found in neighbouring South Africa in 1905 and was cut into nine separate stones, many of which now form part of the British Crown Jewels.
It is not known whether the latest diamond discovered will yield gems of the highest quality, but the sheer size of the rock means it will likely be worth tens of millions anyway.
“The ability to recover such a large, high-quality stone intact demonstrates the effectiveness of our approach to diamond recovery,” Lucara CEO William Lamb said in a statement following the find.
The gem, discovered by Canadian mining company Lucara, is the largest diamond seen in the past 120 years.
The images show the scale of the huge stone next to a golf ball.
Mr Lamb said the company was “excited” about the gem, which was recovered using X-ray transmission technology first installed in 2017.
It is designed to identify and preserve large, high-value diamonds by extracting them from the ground without causing breakage.
Photographs show the huge stone resting in the palm of someone’s hand, and its enormous scale is further demonstrated by an image of it dwarfing a golf ball.
The stone was found at the Karowe mine, located approximately 300 miles north of Botswana’s capital, Gaborone.
In recent years, two other large diamonds were discovered at the mine: Sewelo, weighing 1,758 carats, and Lesedi La Rona, weighing 1,109 carats.
In 2017, British diamond magnate Laurence Graff paid $53 million (over £40 million) for the 1,109-carat Lesedi La Rona.
Two years later, in 2019, Louis Vuitton paid an undisclosed sum for the 1,758-carat Sewelo diamond.
Botswana is one of the world’s largest producers of diamonds, which are its main source of income.
President Mokgweetsi Masisi was due to visit the massive stone later on Thursday.
The stone appears to be not far from the largest gem-quality diamond ever mined, the 3,016.75-carat Cullinan.
The Cullinan III and IV brooch is on display in the Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace
The stone appears to be not far from the largest gem-quality diamond ever mined, the 3,016.75-carat Cullinan.
Its scale, as well as its striking blue-white color and exceptional clarity, made it the most famous diamond in the world.
The diamond, discovered near Pretoria, is named after the mining company’s chairman, Thomas Cullinan.
It is not known what name the last Lucara diamond might have.
The discovery comes amid a lull in diamond sales, with prices falling to their lowest level in four years, according to the Diamond Standard Index.
The industry fared well during the pandemic, when wealthy customers who couldn’t afford to spend on travel and entertainment wanted to splurge on luxury goods.
However, demand has since declined and the market has become oversaturated, including due to the rise of synthetic stones.