Lucara Diamond Corp. has successfully retrieved a remarkable 1,080.1-carat rough diamond from its Karowe mine situated in Botswana, marking the fourth instance of a diamond exceeding the 1,000-carat threshold in just eight years.
This extraordinary white diamond, categorized as type-IIA, emerged from the mine’s south lobe, renowned for yielding substantial, high-quality rough stones, as Lucara revealed on Wednesday.
The precious stone was detected within the miner’s Coarse XRT unit, a recovery facility leveraging advanced X-ray technology to identify sizable gems within large sections of ore prior to fragmentation.
Since 2015, Karowe’s south lobe has produced three other diamonds of comparable magnitude: the 1,109-carat Lesedi La Rona in 2015, the 1,758-carat Sewelô in 2019, and a 1,174.76-carat clivage diamond in 2021.
Eira Thomas, CEO of Lucara, expressed the company’s elation, stating, “Lucara is extremely pleased to be reporting the recovery of another large, high-quality gem diamond in excess of 1,000 carats. As we progress mining deeper in the open pit and transition to underground mining exclusively in the south lobe, the preponderance of large, high-value stones is increasing.”
In a bid to further its operations, Lucara has committed $683 million to the expansion of Karowe’s underground facilities, a strategic maneuver anticipated to extend the mine’s operational lifespan until at least 2040, surpassing the original closure date of 2025 by 15 years.
This development underscores the significance of Botswana’s role in the global diamond industry and highlights the remarkable potential hidden beneath the Earth’s surface, motivating companies like Lucara to invest significantly in technological innovations and expansive projects.
