Lesedi La Rona
The Lesedi La Rona in 2015
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| Weight | 1,111 carats (222.2 g; 7.14 ozt) |
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| Dimensions | 65 mm × 56 mm × 40 mm (2.6 in × 2.2 in × 1.6 in) |
| Colour | Colourless/white, type IIa |
| Cut | Raw |
| Country of origin | Botswana |
| Mine of origin | Karowe Mine |
| Discovered | 16 November 2015 |
| Original owner | Lucara Diamond |
| Owner | Lucara Diamond |
Lesedi La Rona, formerly known in media as Karowe AK6 or as Quad 1 by the personnel at the mine, is the third-largest diamond ever found, and the second-largest of gem quality. Only the non-gem black Sergio and the gem-quality Cullinan are larger. It was found in the Karowe mine, (formerly called AK6) in Botswana on 16 November 2015.
The Lesedi La Rona is a colourless/white,type IIa diamond. It weighs 1,111 carats (222.2 g; 7.84 oz) and measures 65 mm × 56 mm × 40 mm (2.6 in × 2.2 in × 1.6 in). In comparison, the Cullinan, discovered in 1905 in South Africa, weighed 3,106.75 carats (621.350 g). The Lesedi La Rona was mined using Large Diamond Recovery ("LDR") XRT machines, and is the largest diamond recovered using machines for automated diamond sorting. It is estimated to be over 2.5 billion years old.
It was found on 16 November 2015, in the South Lobe of the Karowe mine about 200 m (660 ft) below the surface, and the find was announced on 18 November. A day after the discovery, two more diamonds weighing 813 and 374 carats (162.6 and 74.8 g) were found in the mine. Since the AK6 pipe was opened 18 months earlier, it has yielded over 1,000,000 carats (200 kg) of diamonds.
The stone was too big for the company's scanners.
The diamond was first given a generic name after the mine (Karowe) and the pipe (AK6) where it was found. On 18 January 2016, Chief Executive Officer William Lamb of Lucara Diamond announced a competition, open to all Botswana citizens, to name the stone. In addition to naming the diamond the winner would receive P25,000 (about $2,170).
On 9 February 2016, Lucara Diamond announced that the stone had been named Lesedi La Rona which means "Our Light" in the Tswana language. The winner of the competition who named the diamond was Thembani Moitlhobogi from Mmadikola. He stated that his reason for the name was that "the diamond is a pride, light and hope of Batswana". During the competition Lucara Diamond Corporation received 11,000 emails and 1,000 SMSs with name suggestions.
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