Lesedi La Rona

Lesedi La Rona

The Lesedi La Rona in 2015
Weight 1,111 carats (222.2 g; 7.84 oz)
Dimensions 65 mm × 56 mm × 40 mm (2.6 in × 2.2 in × 1.6 in)
Colour Colourless/white, type IIa
Cut Raw
Country of origin Botswana
Mine of origin Karowe Mine
Discovered 16 November 2015
Owner Lucara Diamond

Lesedi La Rona, formerly known as Karowe AK6, is the second-largest gem-quality diamond ever found, after the Cullinan. It is the third-largest diamond ever found after the Cullinan and the larger, non-gem black Sergio. It was found in the Karowe mine in Botswana on 16 November 2015. It weighs 1,111 carats (222.2 g; 7.84 oz) and is "nearly the size of a tennis ball".[1]

Description

The Lesedi La Rona is a colourless/white,[1] type IIa diamond.[2] It weighs 1,111 carats (222.2 g; 7.84 oz) and measures 65 mm × 56 mm × 40 mm (2.6 in × 2.2 in × 1.6 in). In size, it is second only to the Cullinan, discovered in 1905 in South Africa, which weighed 3,106.75 carats (621.350 g) .[3][4] The Lesedi La Rona was mined using Large Diamond Recovery ("LDR") XRT machines,[2] and is the largest diamond recovered using machines for automated diamond sorting.[1][5]

It was found on 16 November 2015,[6] and the find was announced on 18 November.[2] A day later, two more diamonds weighing 813 and 374 carats (162.6 and 74.8 g) were also found in the mine.[7][8] Since the AK6 pipe was opened 18 months earlier, it has yielded over 1,000,000 carats (200 kg) of diamonds.[9]

The stone proved too big for the company's own scanners, so it will probably be sent to Antwerp, Belgium, for assessment.[6]

Name

The diamond was first given a generic name after the mine (Karowe) and the pipe (AK6) where it was found.[9] On 18 January 2016, Chief Executive Officer William Lamb of Lucara Diamond announced a competition, open to all Botswana citizens, to name the stone. In addition to naming the diamond the winner would receive P25,000 (about $2,170).[10]

On 9 February 2016, Lucara Diamond announced that the stone had been named Lesedi La Rona which means "Our Light" in Tswana language.[11] The winner of the competition who named the diamond was Thembani Moitlhobogi from Mmadikola.[12][13][14] He stated that his reason for the name was that "the diamond is a pride, light and hope of Batswana".[14] During the competition Lucara Diamond Corporation received 11,000 emails and 1,000 SMSs with name suggestions.[15]

Find location

Diamond mines and kimberlite fields in Botswana

It was found in the south lobe of Canadian company Lucara Diamond's Karowe mine about 500 km (310 mi) north of Gaborone in Botswana.[2][8] The mine is located in the Letlhakane region, where it shares the three diamond-producing kimberlites of Orapa, Letlhakane and Damtshaa, with the Debswana Diamond Company Ltd.[9] The first diamond from the mine was retrieved in 2012. Botswana, South Africa, and Namibia are the world's three top producers of mined diamonds.[1]

Technology

The diamond was recovered by a TOMRA large diamond recovery (LDR) machine utilizing X-ray transmission sensors.[5] In May 2015, the operation at the Karowe Diamond Mine replaced their Dense Media Separation (DMS) technology with six TOMRA XRT sorters for sorting material in the -60+8mm size range. The X-ray transmission (XRT) sorting technology was selected following a suite of tests. Each sorter can sort up to 150 tons of material per hour, after that the concentrate goes directly to hand sorting.[16] Karowe Diamond Mine claims to be the first mine using this automated diamond sorting solution.

Value

The exact value of the stone cannot be determined until it is decided how it will be cut and more details about its colour are known. Former diamond-mining geologist Phil Swinfen estimates, based on other similar sales, that the stone could be sold for $40–60 million.[1] The process of selling and cutting the diamond "will likely take years to complete".[17] On early May 2016 Sotheby's in London announced the world's second-biggest diamond is up for auction. Its expected price: $70 million.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 MacDonald, Alex (19 November 2015). "World's Second-Largest Diamond Discovered in Botswana". www.wsj.com. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 News release. "Lucara makes diamond history recovers 1,111 carat diamond" (PDF). www.lucaradiamond.com. Lucara Diamond. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
  3. ↑ "Second largest gem quality diamond ever found recovered in Botswana". www.telegraph.co.uk. The Telegraph. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  4. ↑ MacDonald, Alex (19 November 2015). "World's Second-Largest Diamond Discovered in Botswana". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  5. 1 2 "TOMRA sorting mining congratulates Lucara Diamond Corp. upon the recent recovery of a magnificent 1,111 ct IIA diamond using TOMRA x-ray transmission (XRT) technology at their Karowe mine in Botswana.". www.tomra.com. TOMRA. 24 November 2015.
  6. 1 2 "Biggest diamond in 100 years adds $150 million to miner". www.cnn.com. CNN. 19 November 2015. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
  7. ↑ "News". www.lucaradiamond.com. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
  8. 1 2 "World's second-largest diamond 'found in Botswana'". www.bbc.com. BBC. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
  9. 1 2 3 Cornish, Laura (27 May 2015). "Lucara Diamonds looks for buyers for 342 carat in July exceptional stone tender". www.miningreview.com. Spintelligent (Pty) Ltd. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
  10. ↑ Ngwako, Portia (18 January 2016). "Batswana To Name Biggest Diamond". www.thevoicebw.com. The Voice Pty Ltd. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  11. ↑ Malm, Sara (4 May 2016). "Time to upgrade your engagement ring? Thousand-carat diamond the size of a TENNIS BALL is set to sell for £50 million". Daily Mail Online. Archived from the original on 5 May 2016. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
  12. ↑ "Lucara Names 1,111 Carat Diamond Lesedi La Rona". www.marketwired.com. Marketwired L.P. 9 February 2016. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
  13. ↑ "News". www.lucaradiamond.com. Lucara Diamond. 9 February 2016. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
  14. 1 2 Ngwako, Portia (9 February 2016). "Largest Diamond Named". www.thevoicebw.com. The Voice Newspaper Botswana. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  15. ↑ le Cordeur, Matthew (9 February 2016). "Largest diamond found in 100 years named". www.fin24.com. News24. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
  16. ↑ "TOMRA equipment key to record Lucara diamond recovery". International Mining. 27 November 2015. Retrieved 2 March 2016.
  17. ↑ Nace, Trevor (20 November 2015). "Diamond - The World's Second Largest - Was Found In Botswana". www.forbes.com. Forbes. Retrieved 23 November 2015.

External links

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