What fate for the third largest diamond in the world discovered in Botswana?
The third largest diamond in the world was discovered in Botswana in June 2021. via REUTERS - DEBSWANA DIAMOND COMPANY
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A 1,098-carat diamond was discovered this week in Botswana, in the Jwaneng mine located a few dozen kilometers from Gaborone, in the south-east of the country.
It is the third largest known diamond in history.
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On Wednesday, Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi was able to hold in his hands a translucent stone the size of a clementine, authenticated as having the quality of a rough diamond.
The stone was discovered by a private company jointly owned by a South African diamond group and the Botswana state.
The president announced that the profits from the sale of diamonds would be invested "
in the needs of national development
".
The gemstone has not yet been rated.
But the second largest diamond in the world, also discovered on November 16, 2015 in Botswana, weighed around 100 carats more.
It was then estimated at $ 53 million.
Since the world's two largest diamonds were cut for sale, this one is now the largest owned by humans.
This find
"
Is extremely rare
", attests gemologist Marie-Perle Harment.
Kept whole or divided into tens?
What fate can be reserved for such an object?
“We
will first have to find a name for it: when such spectacular and historic stones are found, they must be baptized,”
explains the specialist in precious stones.
The last one found in Botswana was named Lesidi La Rona and the people voted.
"
The diamond ball will then be auctioned, continues Marie-Perle Harment. When it has found a buyer, major consultations will be carried out between specialists to decide what will be done with it - 60 stones, 40 stones? -, but its owner will make the final decision. "
Once we have cut the diamond probably with a laser, everything will be done by man,
" concludes the gemologist.
While waiting for these steps, the Botswana president considered that the precious stone is the symbol "
of the process in which Botswana is engaged
", that is to say the development of the country's economy thanks to the wealth of the sub -ground.
Wealth exploited since the 1960s, which today represents more than a quarter of its GDP.
Botswana is the third largest diamond producing country in the world.
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To read also:
The eclipse of the Botswanan diamond
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