World's second-largest diamond found in Botswana

Palm-sized gem stands next to the legendary Cullinan Diamond

A massive 2,492-carat diamond - the second largest in the world - has been discovered in Botswana, the Canadian mining company that found the stone announced Thursday. The diamond was discovered in the Karowe diamond mine in northeastern Botswana using X-ray detection technology, Lucara Diamond said in a statement.

As per AFP, Lucara did not provide an estimation of the value of the find. In terms of carats, the stone is second only to the 3,106-carat Cullinan Diamond discovered in South Africa in 1905.

"We are ecstatic about the recovery of this extraordinary 2,492-carat diamond," Lucara president William Lamb said in the statement. This find was "one of the largest rough diamonds ever unearthed" and detected using the company's Mega Diamond Recovery X-ray technology installed in 2017 to identify and preserve large, high-value diamonds, the statement said.

The managing director of Lucara Botswana, Naseem Lahri, presented the translucent stone, which is the size of a palm, to President Mokgweetsi Masisi at his office later Thursday.

"I'm told this is the largest diamond to be discovered in Botswana to date and the second in the world," Masisi said, congratulating the company on the find. "This is precious."

Botswana is one of the world's largest producers of diamonds which are its main source of income, accounting for 30 percent of GDP and 80 percent of its exports, according to International Monetary Fund figures.

The arid and sparsely populated country, home to around 2.5 million people, was poor at the time of its independence from Britain in 1966. Diamonds were discovered a year later and today the country is the world's largest producer by value, the IMF says.

Lucara says it pays a royalty of 10 per cent of the gross sales value of diamonds produced from Karowe to the government, regardless of whether the diamond is sold rough or polished.