Deep in Botswana’s diamond country, one mine continues to do what no other operation in the world has managed to replicate.
Lucara Diamond Corp. has announced the recovery of a 1,305.4-carat rough diamond from its Karowe Diamond Mine, adding yet another giant to a growing list of exceptional finds from the site.
The white, unbroken stone measures 79.9mm by 34.1mm by 51.9mm and becomes the tenth diamond larger than 1,000 carats recovered from Karowe since production began in 2012. Few mines in history have produced even one stone of this scale, making Karowe a rare symbol of Botswana’s enduring place in the global luxury diamond market.
Technology that protects giants
What makes Karowe especially remarkable is not only the size of its discoveries, but also the technology used to recover them intact. In the past, many of the world’s largest diamonds were damaged or destroyed during processing, crushed by machinery built to break hard kimberlite rock.
Lucara’s Mega Diamond Recovery X-ray. The transmission system was designed to prevent that outcome. The technology identifies large stones before they enter the crushing circuit, allowing them to be extracted whole instead of broken apart. That approach has helped Karowe preserve some of the most important rough diamonds ever found.
A mine with a remarkable record
This latest discovery joins an extraordinary lineage of stones unearthed at Karowe. Among the mine’s most famous recoveries are the 2,488-carat Motswedi, the 1,758-carat Sewelô, the 1,109-carat Lesedi La Rona, and the Seriti and Eva Star stones, which weighed 1,094 carats and 1,080 carats respectively.
Together, these finds have turned Karowe into one of the most closely watched diamond mines on earth. More than a source of gemstones, it has become a case study in how geology, technology, and long-term investment can combine to produce world-class results.
Underground future, deeper value
The timing of the discovery also matters. Lucara is in the middle of a major transition at Karowe, moving from open-pit mining toward the Karowe Underground Project, which is designed to unlock the richest sections of the South Lobe orebody.
The underground development is expected to extend the mine’s life to at least 2040, with underground ore scheduled to begin replacing surface stockpiles by 2027 and full production targeted for the first half of 2028.
For Lucara, the latest recovery offers fresh validation of that long-term strategy.
For Botswana, it reinforces something even bigger. The country’s post-independence growth has long been shaped by disciplined mineral management, and Karowe remains one of the clearest examples of how that model can produce not just revenue, but global prestige. Source Business Insider Africa
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