Mining at Botswana Mine
Local Presidential Office Also Issues Statement
UK Media "Value Exceeds 50 Billion"
A diamond mine in Botswana, Africa, has extracted a 2,492-carat rough diamond. It is the largest rough diamond found in 119 years.
According to reports from foreign media including the Associated Press on the 22nd (local time), the office of Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi announced that a 2,492-carat rough diamond was mined that day. A carat is a unit used to measure the total weight of a diamond, with 1 carat equivalent to 0.2 grams. In other words, the diamond mined this time weighs about 500 grams.
The discovery of a rough diamond weighing 500 grams is the first since 1905, making it effectively the largest rough diamond found in 119 years. The price and sales method of this diamond have not yet been determined.
The value of a diamond is determined by the so-called '4Cs': weight (Carat), color (Color), clarity (Clarity), and cut (Cut). It is not simply the heaviest rough diamond that sells for the highest price; rather, heavy diamonds that are well-preserved in high quality are considered premium natural diamonds.
Additionally, the overall market sentiment for rough diamonds must be taken into account. Especially last year, due to a global surge in inflation, consumer sentiment worsened, causing rough diamond prices to fall to their lowest in a year.
The company that mined the diamond is the Canadian mining company Lukara Diamond. In a statement released the day before, the company said, "It is the largest rough diamond discovered to date," and expressed, "We are very pleased to recover this amazing diamond."
The company emphasized that it used X-ray technology to discover the diamond within the geological layers and carefully identified and preserved the rough diamond to maintain its optimal condition. The UK Financial Times (FT) also reported expert opinions suggesting that the value of the diamond could exceed $40 million (approximately 53.6 billion KRW).
Meanwhile, Botswana is one of the world's largest diamond producers, with about 20% of the world's diamonds mined from Botswana's mines. Despite being a small country with a population of only 2.6 million, diamond exports are one of Botswana's core industries. At the Karowe mine in Botswana, diamonds exceeding 1,000 carats have been mined four times in the past decade.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
