The search for diamonds has been the epitome of treasure, from the exotic Golconda to the mines of Africa.
Precisely in Africa we have just found one of the highest quality pieces in history, the fifth diamond in the world in that sense: 910 carats.
Lesotho
According to the mining company Gem Diamonds, the stone was unearthed in the Letseng mine, Lesotho, located in this country surrounded by South Africa. This exceptional diamond of first quality is the largest to be extracted to date.
The majority of natural diamonds are formed under conditions of extreme pressure and temperature, existing at depths of 140 to 190 kilometers in the earth's mantle. The diamonds are brought close to the surface of the Earth through volcanic eruptions.
The largest diamond in the world is known as Estrella del Sur (in honor of the novel "La estrella del Sur" published by Jules Verne in 1884) or Cullinan. It had 3,106 carats (it weighed more than 3,000 carats) and was discovered in 1905 by Frederick Wells, surface manager of the Premier Diamond Mining Company in Cullinan, South Africa.
And it's not the biggest in the world
The rock was discovered at the Letšeng mine in Lesotho, in southern Africa. It is a D-color diamond type IIa of 910 carats, which means that it is one of the purest on the planet, and where it is estimated that approximately 1 and 2% of all natural diamonds in the world planet belong to this type.
Type IIa diamonds do not contain impurities, such as nitrogen atoms, they are colorless and transparent to ultraviolet light. In the case of this rock, its weight is 182 grams and it has 910 carats.
The mine belongs to British company Gem Diamonds, which was acquired in 2006 and since then it has literally become a jewel for the company, having produced some of the most important diamonds in the world. In that same 2006, the company extracted a diamond of 603 carats, which was the largest of its collection to date, and in 2015 they discovered one of 357 carats that they later sold at just over 19 million dollars. And only last week they found one of 117 and another of 110 carats.
Gem Diamonds has not mentioned the value of this gem or its plans to put it on sale. According to Bloomberg estimates, this diamond could easily be worth more than $ 40 million if it does not have internal defects.
However, this diamond is not the largest in the world, but the fifth, which is also very important. In the first place is the impressive diamond of 3,106 carats found in Pretoria, South Africa, which was cut in two to be placed in the jewels of the crown of Great Britain. This is followed by the Lutera diamond of 1,109 carats, the Excelsior of 995 carats and the Sierra Leone of 969 carats.