Lucara Digs Up 470-Carat Diamond
This 470-carat light brown diamond is the latest big find to come from Lucara’s Karowe mine in Botswana, making it the third diamond weighing more than 300 carats recovered by the mining company this year.
"Vancouver, B.C.—The Karowe mine in Botswana has delivered another major diamond.
Lucara Diamond Corp. announced this week the recovery of a 470-carat “top” light brown diamond measuring 49 mm x 42 mm x 26 mm.
It was recovered from the open pit mine’s South Lobe, specifically the EM/PK(S) unit.
Lucara, which owns 100 percent of Karowe, noted it’s recovered a string of large gem-quality stones recently, including five others topping 100 carats: a 265-carat diamond, a 183-carat stone, a 161-carat diamond, a 116-carat diamond, and a 106-carat diamond.
It’s also recovered 13 stones recently weighing between 50 and 100 carats.
Of its entire May production, focused in the EM/PK(S) unit, 12.7 percent of total production weight were diamonds weighing 10.8 carats or more.
The new 470-carat find is the third diamond weighing more than 300 carats recovered this year, including a 341-carat diamond and a 378-carat stone, both discovered in January.
Last month, the miner announced it had secured $220 million in financing to take mining operations at Karowe underground and extend the mine’s life by about 20 years.
Important diamonds like the 1,109-carat “Lesedi La Rona” Graff purchased for $53 million and the 1,758-carat “Sewelô” diamond Louis Vuitton is turning into a jewelry collection were discovered at Karowe.
Lucara CEO Eira Thomas said, “The benefits of a ... "
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