Reuters reports that the stone recovered at the Karowe mine, in Botswana last June would be on display for a week at the Whitby Hotel in upper midtown Manhattan.
HB Antwerp, which entered into a rough diamond supply deal with Lucara in August last year, has not yet decided on whether the uncut diamond will be cut into polished stones.
Image credit: Lucara Diamond
“We have been in the business for many years, for quite some time, and these types of things do get us excited because of the sheer size,” HB Antwerp chief executive Oded Mansori was quoted as saying.
Lucara chief executive Eira Thomas also said they are expecting to recover more exceptional diamonds over 1000-carats in size.
“But on a global basis, this is still an extremely rare and unusual event,” she said.
The 1,174.76 carat diamond, measuring 77x55x33mm, is a cleavage gem of variable quality with significant domains of high-quality white gem material and was recovered from the ore sourced from the EM/PK(S) unit of the South Lobe.
It is the third +1,000 carat diamond recovered from the South Lobe of the AK6 kimberlite since 2015 including the 1,758-carat Sewelô and 1,109-carat Lesedi La Rona.
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished
