Massive diamonds are hard to find. In fact, the last enormous diamond was unearthed more than a century ago. But in August, miners in Botswana finally hit paydirt.
Miners for Lucara Diamond Corp uncovered a one-pound, 2,492-carat diamond from the Karowe mine, located about 300 miles north of the Botswana capital of Garborne.
The find is second only to the 3,106-carat Cullinan diamond, found in South Africa in 1905 and cut into smaller stones for the English crown jewels. Another diamond from the same mine, the 813-carat Constellation diamond, sold for a record $63 million in 2016.
X-rays and precision grinding techniques are making large diamonds easier to find than ever.
