Two mega diamonds unearthed in Botswana inside weeks. What’s in the back of a surprising rush?

KEY POINTS :

• The 1,174-carat diamond is the third gem-quality stone of over 1,000 carats unearthed from the same mining location, Karowe diamond mine, in Botswana.
• Lucara Diamond, Botswana managing director, shows Botswana President a 1,174-carat diamond in Gaborone.

A sizeable 1,174-carat diamond becomes currently unearthed in Botswana, days after any other large valuable stone turned into determined in the African u . S .. 

The mining business enterprise, Lucara Diamond Corp., stated that the diamond, which measures 77mm long, 55mm huge and 33mm thick, changed into discovered on the Karowe diamond mine ultimate month. The corporation presented the diamond to the government at a rite on Wednesday.

The third diamond of over 1,000 carats was unearthed from the same mining place, a global report for Karowe. Apart from the healing of the rare rock, the mining company additionally unearthed several other diamonds — weighing 471, 218 and 159 carats — of similar form, suggesting the 1,174-carat diamond was a part of a larger diamond with an anticipated weight of more than 2000 carats.

Before the invention of the mega diamond, any other large 1,098-carat precious stone becomes located in Botswana by using diamond company Debswana, which became then believed to be the world’s third-biggest gem-exceptional stone ever to be mined. The global’s 2d-largest diamond ‘Lesedi La Rona’ become additionally determined in Botswana in 2015.

How hard is it to mine large diamonds?

The full-size majority of global diamond production constitutes small diamonds, at less than one carat. This is because small diamonds are commonplace and simplest useful for commercial packages. On the alternative hand, large gemstone-best diamonds are extremely uncommon and precious.

Billions of years of vintage natural diamonds formed deep in the Earth. Some scientists have suggested substantial portions of gem-satisfactory stone loads of kilometres deep, according to a piece of writing by using The Conversation.

 However, the authors Jodie Bradby and Nigel Marks wrote that the innermost hole ever drilled is ready 12 kilometres, and we can never be capable of mine these deep-earth diamonds.

A member of the Botswana cabinet holds a 1,174-carat diamond in Gaborone, Botswana that Lucara Diamonds Corp. Unearthed.

A member of the Botswana cabinet holds a 1,174-carat diamond in Gaborone, Botswana that Lucara Diamonds Corp. Unearthed. (AFP)

Most diamonds are found within igneous rocks called Kimberlite, but only a small percentage of all recognized Kimberlite deposits include diamonds, the authors said.

 Moreover, on its pinnacle, simplest a handful of these rocks are wealthy sufficient with diamonds to warrant being mined, making it very tough to locate a great condition.

What is in the back of the sudden rush?

According to Brady and Marks, huge herbal diamonds often get destroyed for the duration of the mining process. At the same time, an ore is blasted with explosives, after which beaten into fragments to look for diamonds.

 But companies have given you new technology that procedure with the useful resource of X-ray ore-sorting technology, mainly centred for these “mega diamond healing”.

The modern-day mega diamond from the Karowe mine recovered using these more modern strategies, indicating that more of these enormous stones could be determined inside the destiny.

 “Advances in diamond mining strategies, coupled with the inherent rarity of mega diamonds, is a boon for Botswana, where diamonds represent a sizable part of the u . S .’s GDP,” the duo wrote.