The third-largest diamond in the world has been discovered in Botswana, Africa. It is a 1,098-carat diamond.
It was found by a local government joint venture during excavations by Anglo American (AAL) and De Beers.
This stone was found at Jwaneng, the wealthiest mine globally, which is currently undergoing an expansion of two billion dollars.
Linnet Armstrong, interim managing director of the Debswana Diamond Company, has handed over the diamond to the country’s president, Moquitzi Masci.
The first two of the largest diamonds ever found were also found in Africa. The first largest diamond was discovered in 1905 in South Africa, was 3,106-carat. It was named the Cullinan Stone. In 2015, Lucara Diamonds unearthed the second-largest diamond in Botswana at 1,109 carats, the “Lesedi La Rona.”
Armstrong said it was the largest diamond seized by Debswana in the last 50 years. After preliminary analysis, it is claimed to be the third-largest diamond in the world.
Read More: 6 beautiful places around the world that are haunted
Debswana has a 50:50 partnership for the mining of gems in southwest Africa between Botswana and De Beers. Last year, 16.6 million carats were produced, compared to 23.3 million in 2019.
The diamond is 73 mm long, 52 mm wide, and 27 mm thick, which is yet to be named. Diamond sales declined in 2020 due to the covid-19 epidemic. Now that the diamond has been found, a good day has come again, said Minerals Minister Lefoko Moagi.
The government receives 80 percent of its revenue in the form of Debswana sales through dividends, royalties, and taxes. Production Debswana fell 29 percent in 2020 to 16.6 million carats.
Sales fell to $ 2.1 billion as the impact of the epidemic fell on both production and demand. It plans to increase production by 38 percent by 2021 as the global diamond market recovers.
The stone is the largest gem in Debswana’s history, a collaborative endeavor between the government and the international diamond giant De Beers.