Botswana’s state-run Okavango Diamond Company unveiled on Wednesday what is believed to be the largest blue diamond ever discovered in the southern African country, one of the world\u2019s top producers.<\/p>\n
The 20.46 carats, oval-shape fancy precious rock has been named “The Okavango Blue” in honour of the Okavango Delta, the country’s wildlife-rich world heritage site.<\/p>\n
From all coloured diamonds, blue ones are the most unusual and that\u2019s why the miner says its find is one of the rarest in the world.<\/p>\n
“It is incredibly unusual for a stone of this colour and nature to have come from Botswana – a once-in-lifetime find, which is about as rare as a star in the Milky Way,” Okavango Diamond Company managing director Marcus ter Haar said in a statement.<\/p>\n
“It sits in the very top bracket of all-time historical blue diamond finds [especially because] only a very small percentage of the world’s diamonds are classified as fancy colour,” he noted, adding the company expects to sell it by the end of the year.<\/p>\n In 2016,\u00a0a massive intense blue diamond, known as The Cullinan Dream,\u00a0sold for\u00a0$25.4 million<\/a>\u00a0at a Christie\u2019s\u00a0auction in New York, breaking all records and becoming the most expensive gem of its kind ever sold at auction.<\/p>\n Last year, a 6.16-carat blue diamond, secretly passed down through European royalty over three centuries,\u00a0fetched $6.7 million\u00a0at a Sotheby\u2019s auction<\/a> in Geneva \u2014 $1.4 million more than what\u00a0experts expected it to be sold for<\/a>.<\/p>\n Arguably, the most famous is the Hope Diamond, also known as Le Bijou du Roi (“the King’s Jewel”), Le bleu de France (“France’s Blue”), and the Tavernier Blue. The massive, 45.52-carat, deep-blue diamond is now kept at the U.S. National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n Botswana, which was overtaken by Russia as the world\u2019s top diamond producing country in 2014, is grappling with aging mines, as well as power and\u00a0water shortages.<\/p>\n Still, diamonds are the country\u2019s main source of income and account for about 80% of its exports.<\/p>\n The nation is home to some of the world\u2019s most\u00a0prolific diamond mines<\/a>, including Lucara Diamond\u2019s (TSX:LUC) Karowe operation, where the\u00a0now-famous Lesedi la Rona<\/a>, the second-largest gem-quality diamond to ever be found, was unearthed in 2016.<\/p>\n Besides diamonds, the country also produces nickel, copper, coal and iron ore.<\/p>\nThe 20.46 carats, oval-shape fancy precious rock has been named “The Okavango Blue” in honour of the Okavango Delta, the country’s wildlife-rich world heritage site.<\/q><\/p>\n