Lucara Diamond Corp. has quietly added another colossal find to its already glittering résumé — a 2,036-carat near-gem-quality rough diamond recovered in July from the company’s famed Karowe Mine in Botswana. The discovery, revealed in the second paragraph of Lucara’s Q2 2025 earnings report, ranks as the third-largest rough diamond ever unearthed and the second-largest found in Botswana.
About the size of a baseball and weighing nearly a pound, the rough stone was recovered from processing EM/PK(S)1 kimberlite — the same ore type that has been the focus of Lucara’s Karowe Underground Project. This specific ore body has now produced seven of the world’s largest recorded natural diamonds, solidifying Karowe’s reputation as one of the most prolific diamond sources in history.
Karowe is no stranger to the record books. Of the 10 largest rough diamonds ever found, eight have come from this single Botswana mine. The list includes the following:
2,492-carat Motswedi (2024) – #2 all time
2,036-carat unnamed (2025) – #3
1,758-carat Sewelô (2019) – #4
1,476-carat unnamed (2025) – #5
1,174-carat unnamed (2021) – #6
1,111-carat Lesedi La Rona (2015) – #7
1,094-carat Seriti (2024) – #9
1,080-carat Eva Star (2023) – #10
The recovery of the new 2,036-carat stone was made possible by Lucara’s state-of-the-art X-ray transmission (XRT) technology. Installed in 2017, the system scans ore as it moves along conveyor belts, detecting diamonds based on their unique chemical signature. This process allows large, high-value stones to be identified and removed before they can be damaged by crushing equipment.
Lucara CEO William Lamb credited the technology and operational expertise for the continued string of exceptional recoveries.
“The Karowe diamond mine continues to validate its world-class status with the recovery of a second diamond exceeding 2,000 carats,” Lamb said.
The mammoth find capped off a productive quarter for Karowe. Between April and June 2025, the mine yielded 242 “Specials” — rough diamonds larger than 10.8 carats — representing 9.4% of total carats recovered. That tally included 15 stones weighing more than 100 carats, two of which exceeded 200 carats. Total Q2 production reached 85,024 carats.
Beyond its place in diamond-industry history, the 2,036-carat discovery is a reminder of the vital role Botswana plays in the global diamond trade. The country’s diamond revenues help fund infrastructure, education and healthcare, making each high-value recovery significant not just for Lucara’s shareholders, but for Botswana’s national development.
While Lucara has yet to release photographs of the 2,036-carat stone, The Jeweler Blog has created a conceptual rendering using ChatGPT and DALL·E 3 based on historical images of the 2,492-carat Motswedi and 1,758-carat Sewelô. The image accompanies this story to give readers a sense of the scale and appearance of this extraordinary diamond.
Whether it will be destined for the cutting wheel or preserved intact as a mineralogical marvel, the 2,036-carat Karowe diamond is already part of a rarefied club — and yet another sparkling testament to the mine’s status as the crown jewel of Botswana’s diamond industry.
Credits: Conceptional rendering of the 2,036-carat diamond by The Jeweler Blog using ChatGPT and DALL-E 3. Mine photo courtesy of Lucara Diamond Corp.