According to the Financial Times, the second-largest diamond in the world (2492 carats), discovered by the Canadian mining company Lucara (Korowe mine in Botswana), could be worth more than 40 million dollars.
Botswana is Africa's leading diamond producer; in 2019 Lucara had already found the 'Sewelo', a 1758-carat stone considered - until last week's discovery - to be the largest diamond after the legendary Cullinan with its 3100 carats, mined in 1905 in South Africa and given by the Transvaal government to King Edward VII for his 66th birthday.
Part of the Cullinan, cut into nine pieces, now adorns the British imperial sceptre kept among the Crown Jewels at the Tower of London. As for the Sewelo, it was bought by Louis Vuitton, the flagship brand of luxury giant LVMH, for an undisclosed price.
Lucara Diamond Corp. is a Canadian diamond mining company with several exploration licences in Botswana. It owns 100% of the Karowe mine, which is considered to be one of the world's leading producers of 'large, high-quality Type IIA diamonds', i.e. diamonds larger than 10.8 carats.
The Canadian company also owns Clara Diamond Solutions, a secure digital sales platform that aims to guarantee the provenance of diamonds, from mine to fingerprint.
As for Lucara's latest financial results, the company generated revenues of $41.3 million in the second quarter of 2024, corresponding to the sale of 76,387 carats of diamonds.
The Karowe mine, which first began operations in 2012, enabled Lucara to sell 216 diamonds worth more than $1 million and 11 diamonds worth more than $10 million.
The mining company has undertaken to pay the Botswana government a royalty of 10% of the gross value of revenues from precious stones mined at Karowe. Diamonds are the country's main source of revenue, accounting for 30% of GDP and 80% of total exports.
Recently, in Karowe, the development of a new X-ray detection technology has accelerated the discovery of gems. This makes it possible to isolate and extract the largest precious stones without breaking them.
As a result of these advances, Lucara's production has even increased by 18% in 2023 at Karowe, corresponding to the extraction of 395,134 carats. The Canadian company signed a 10-year agreement with Belgian diamond trader HB Antwerp in February this year.
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