Third Largest Diamond Found in Botswana by Local Miners
- Botswana has become the country with the second and third largest diamonds in the world following the latest discovery by miners in the country
- Diamond company, Debswana, co-owned by the government of Botswana and the De Beers Group made the findings, and it has now been handed over to the country
- President of Botswana, Mokgweetsi Masisi, said the diamond will be used to support the country's economy after it has been sold
The third-largest gem-quality diamond has been discovered in Botswana by a diamond company, Debswana, in Jwaneng mine, which is located in the country's capital, Gaborone.
The diamond has been described as a 1,098-carat stone. This makes Botswana home to two of the world's largest diamond, including the second, called Lesedi La Rona.
World largest diamonds located in Africa
The 1,109-carat stone was discovered by a Canadian firm, Lucara Diamond, in 2015, at the Karowe mine. The diamond was later sold two years after the discovery at $53 million to a luxury jeweller, Graff.
Source: Getty Images
Currently, the largest ever is the 3,106-carat Cullinan Diamond, which was found in 1905 before South Africa gained independence from the British.
It was gathered that the Cullinan stone was broken into smaller pieces, with some added to the crown jewels of the British royal.
Although a large size of the 1,758-carat stone was also unearthed in Botswana in 2019, however, it wasn't classified as a full gem-quality by experts, so it wasn't ranked.
The diamond was later sold at an undisclosed amount to Louis Vuitton the next year. Note that rough diamond comes in three types: gem-quality, near-gem or industrial-quality - all of which are described based on colour, clarity, size and shape.
Botswana to reinvest diamond proceeds
The third-largest diamond has been handed over to the Botswana government by the company, which is co-owned by the country and the De Beers Group.
The President of Botswana, Mokgweetsi Masisi, said the proceeds will be reinvested into the country. He also advised that technology should be used to discover more.
Meanwhile, Legit.ng had reported that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is planning to increase foreign exchange in circulation amid a scarcity in the market.
Since the financial regulator devalued the naira by adopting the Investors and Exporters window, it has been depreciating, in order to support the local currency, the Apex bank wants to boost availability.
This is affecting the confidence of Bureau de change and other black market operators, forcing them to sell the dollar in their hand to avoid holding depreciating forex.
Source: Legit.ng
