Second largest diamond in history unearthed in Botswana

'You’d have to be a very brave person to predict a stone like this,' company CEO admits after find

It is impossible to value the stone until it has been scanned (Lucara Diamond Firm)

The world’s second largest diamond has been discovered in Botswana – and it is the size of a tennis ball.

Lucara Diamond Firm, a Canadian firm operating in the southern African nation, announced the discovery of the 1,111-carat stone in Karowe mine, roughly 300 miles north of the capital, Gaborone, on Wednesday.

The stone is the largest find in more than a century and the biggest ever discovered in Botswana.

In fact, the diamond is so big the company are unable to scan it themselves, with Lucara’s CEO William Lamb telling Bloomberg News the stone will be transported to Amsterdam where it is hoped there will be a scanner large enough to access it.

Mr Lamb confessed while valuing their operation in Botswana: “You’d have to be a very brave person to predict a stone like this.”

It is almost impossible to value a stone as large as the one found, especially as the company are unable to scan it to access the quality of the colour or clarity. In all likelihood the diamond will be split into multiple pieces over the coming years.

The largest diamond ever unearthed, the 3,106-carot Cullinan, was found in South Africa in 1905. It was split into a number of pieces – among them the Great Star of Africa and the Lesser Star of Africa, set in Britain’s Crown Jewels.