Lucara Diamond Corp has recovered an exceptional 1,758-carat diamond, which the miner described as one of the largest in recorded history.

Extracted from its 100 percent-owned Karowe Diamond Mine in Botswana, the stone is the largest ever recovered in Botswana and the largest to be mined at Karowe to date. Weighing close to 352 grams and measuring 83mm by 62mm by 46mm, the diamond has been characterised as “near gem of variable quality, including domains of high-quality white gem.” 

Eira Thomas, Lucara’s CEO, commented, “Lucara’s technologically advanced XRT diamond recovery circuit has once again delivered historic results. Karowe has now produced two diamonds greater than 1,000 carats in just four years, affirming the coarse nature of the resource and the likelihood of recovering additional, large, high-quality diamonds in the future, particularly as we mine deeper in the orebody and gain access to the geologically favourable EM/PK(S) unit, the source of both of our record-breaking, 1,000-plus-carat diamonds.” 

Since commissioning its XRT circuit in 2015, Lucara has mined a total of 12 diamonds in excess of 300 carats at Karowe, including two that surpassed 1,000 carats, from a total production of approximately 1.4 million carats. Of the 12 over-300-carat diamonds recovered, 50 percent were categorised as gem quality with 11 sold to date generating revenue in excess of US$158 million.