June 17, 2021

Andrew Campbell 

Good news uplifted the people and the Botswana government in the Southern Africa since the country experienced the economic recession during the pandemic. Earlier this month, a diamond over 1,000 carats was discovered in the Jwaneng mine owned by Debswana. The President of Botswana, Mokgweetsi Masisi, showed the massive gemstone in Gaborone, the capital city of Botswana. 

Jwaneng mine was located at about 75 miles from Botswana. Diamonds were found in Botswana in 1967 and the mining company Debswana was formed in 1969, cooperatively owned by the government of Botswana and the group of De Beers. About two-thirds of export earnings in Botswana depend on diamonds.

The weight of the massive diamond is 1,098.3 carats. It is 73 millimeters long, 52 millimeters wide and 27 millimeters thick. This was the largest gemstones in the mine history of Debswana and would be the third largest diamond in the history. 

The first largest diamond was a Cullinan stone with 3,106 carats. It was found in South Africa in 1905. The weight of Lucara Diamond was 1,109 carats, found in Botswana in 2015. This was the second largest diamond and found in Botswana in 2015. 

The mine acting managing manager of Jwaneng, Lynette Armstrong, stated with the latest introduction of a modern technique, she believed that it was possible to discover more large diamonds in Debswana. 

Photo:webshot.