A 1,758 carat diamond recovered from Lucara Diamond Corp.'s Karowe Mine in Botswana. Reuters
The 1,758-carat diamond, larger than a tennis ball, weighs close to 352 grammes, Lucara said in a statement. The stone is second in size only to the 3,106-carat Cullinan diamond, recovered in South Africa in 1905.
A 1,758 carat diamond recovered from Karowe Diamond Mine in Botswana. Reuters
Lucara's shares rose as much as 11.4% to the highest in more than two months, before closing up 6.3% at C$1.68. The Toronto stock benchmark ended the day marginally lower.
The stone is the latest in a series of high-value recoveries for the Vancouver-based company at Karowe. Since introducing its XRT Diamond recovery technology, Lucara has recovered 12 diamonds over 300 carats, the company said, including a 472-carat and a 327-carat diamond in April 2018.
The 1,109-carat "Lesedi La Rona," which Lucara recovered in November 2015, failed to meet its undisclosed reserve price at a June 2016 auction, putting pressure on the company's shares. British Diamond dealer Graff Diamonds finally bought it for $53 million in September 2017.
Forbes reported late last year that Graff had created 67 finished gems from the stone.
Reuters