Another Supersize Gem in the News: Botswana Mine Yields 239.2-Carat Rough Diamond

It's been a big week for BIG diamond news. On Monday, we told you about a 101.73-carats flawless diamond that's expected to break auction records at Christie's Geneva. On Tuesday, we wrote about a 1,000-carat necklace that features the golden 407.48-carat L’Incomparable Diamond.

Today, we give you a close-up look at a rough diamond recently extracted from the Karowe Mine in Botswana that weighs a whopping 239.2 carats. Also pulled from the same mine were smaller, but still impressive, rough diamonds weighing 124 carats and 71.1 carats.

Credited with these stellar finds is the Canadian-based mining company, Lucara Diamond Corp. The company was unable to estimate the clarity or potential value of the largest diamond because, in its current state, it's difficult to see beneath the surface.
William Lamb, president and CEO of Lucara, told JCK magazine, "The color is good, but because of the surface texture, it is difficult to say on the clarity." The company will be sending the rough diamond to Antwerp to be analyzed by expert gemologists and gem cutters.

The challenge will be to get the best yield while maintaining the highest possible clarity and color. Lamb added that the 239-carat stone is "one of the largest diamonds ever to have been recovered from the highly prolific Orapa kimberlite field in more than 40 years of production."

 The mining company's recent success with mammoth diamonds coincided with the southward expansion of its mining pit.