Botswana has become home to the second-largest diamond ever discovered on earth.
The World’s second-largest gem-quality diamond has been discovered in Botswana which is one of Africa’s top diamond producers, with diamonds making up about 80 per cent of its export income.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that this discovery was made known by a Canadian company, Lucara.
Lucara’s Chief Executive Officer, William Lamb, in a statement, said the 1,111-carat diamond was second in size only to the 3,106-carat one unearthed at Cullinan mine in neighbouring South Africa in 1905, was cut into British crown jewels.
The diamond, slightly smaller than a tennis ball, was recovered by machines in the Karowe mine in central Botswana.
However, experts said that it was too early to estimate the value of the diamond.
Lamb said: “I am truly at a loss for words; we are truly blessed by this amazing asset.
“Our focus, mining the south lobe has been perfectly timed with the commissioning of our recent plant modifications, enabling the recovery of large, high-quality exceptional diamonds.’’
An expert in the Belgian city of Antwerp, one of the world’s main diamond trading centres, said the discovered diamond was “of exceptional quality.’’