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Botswana's President Mokgweetsi Masisi with the giant diamond
Photo: MONIRUL BHUIYAN / AFP
One of the largest diamonds ever found was discovered in a mine in Botswana.
The stone, the size of a chicken egg, has over a thousand carats and is of the purest quality, the mine operator Debswana announced on Tuesday evening.
The stone found in the Jwaneng mine earlier this month was measured at a total of 1,098 carats.
According to media reports, a Debswana employee found the diamonds while sorting a garbage can of materials from the mine.
The specimen is 7.3 inches long, 5.2 inches wide, 2.7 inches thick.
The mine is owned by the Debswana Consortium, in which the diamond producer De Beers and the State of Botswana each hold 50 percent of the shares.
He owns a total of four large diamond mines, of which the 400-meter-deep pit in Jwaneng is the largest.
The plant has been in operation since 1972 and is considered to be the richest diamond mine in the world by value.
Diamond fever in South Africa
It is still unclear what will happen with the new record diamond.
"The value has yet to be determined," says the incumbent Debswana director Lynette Armstrong.
Diamonds are also mined in neighboring South Africa - and since residents of the small town of KwaHlathi discovered "glittering stones" there, a veritable diamond fever has been driving hordes of lucky seekers there.
There is speculation on social media about the next record carats.
The authorities reacted skeptically at first and want to have the authenticity checked.
Sihle Zikalala, the prime minister of the KwaZulu-Natal province concerned, warned that the place was in danger of being overrun and called the security authorities to act.
At a time when the country is being hit by a third wave of corona infections, he also fears a mass infection.
bbr / dpa