The Karowe Mine in Botswana discovered the Lesedi La Rona, the world’s second-largest diamond. Dazzling in size at an extraordinary 1,109 carats, this near-colorless gem of extraordinary transparency and quality belongs to the Type IIa classification of diamonds, known for its remarkable purity and optical clarity.
The Karowe Mine was owned by Lucara Diamond Corporation. It is situated 500 kilometers from Gaborone to the north. Afterwards, it was asserted to be one of the mines that mined high-quality diamonds. This recovery of the Lesedi La Rona would put Botswana even on the diamond map.
The world’s second-largest diamond has been unearthed in a Botswana mine.
The diamond is the largest discovered since the Cullinan Diamond was unearthed in South Africa in 1905.
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Named through a national competition, Lesedi La Rona translates to “Our Light” in the Setswana language. It is because of this diamond, with its outstanding brilliancy, that this country of ours can hold its head high with some pride and certainty for the future.
After the discovery, the Lesedi La Rona was auctioned at Sotheby’s in London in 2016 but did not reach the set reserve price. In another year, it was sold to Graff Diamonds for $53 million.
The resulting process of cutting and polishing the diamond produced a number of smaller polished gems, one of them being the best known – the Graff Lesedi La Rona. Discovery of Lesedi La Rona made both economic and social gains to Botswana including tourism, investment, and boosting and creating national pride. Advanced mining technologies deployed at the Karowe Mine, such as X-ray transmission systems, have been helpful toward the country’s success in diamond mining.
