692-Carat Diamond Recovered From Karowe Mine
Lucara said it’s the 20th stone weighing more than 100 carats the mine has produced this year.
![This 692.3-carat rough diamond was just recovered from the Karowe Diamond Mine in Botswana. It is a Type IIa diamond and measures 46.5 x 40.7 x 28.4 mm. 692 carat diamond](https://uploads.nationaljeweler.com/uploads/3e6e487d69cd22324dcdf11f20283149.jpg)
Owner and operator Lucara Diamond Corp. announced Monday that it has recovered a 692.3-carat stone from the mine.
The diamond, which measures 46.5 x 40.7 x 28.4 mm, is a Type IIa diamond. Lucara said it was found in the MDR (mega-diamond recovery) XRT unit from direct milling of ore sourced from the mine’s South Lobe.
The discovery of the 692-carat diamond comes less than two weeks after the company announced that the South Lobe had produced its fourth rough diamond weighing more than 1,000 carats since 2015.
The 1,080.1-carat diamond also is a Type IIa stone and was recovered in the Coarse XRT unit.
Lucara CEO William Lamb said the 692-carat diamond is the 20th stone weighing more than 100 carats recovered at Karowe so far this year.
He said its discovery “strongly supports” the company’s expectation of finding larger diamonds when it goes underground at the mine as the majority of material mined will be from the same phase of kimberlite.
Lamb, who first served as Lucara CEO from May 2011 to February 2018, took over again earlier this month, replacing Eira Thomas.
Underground production at Karowe originally was supposed to commence in the second half of 2026, but the company announced last month that it will take longer and cost more than originally planned.
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