Cullinan Diamond
The Cullinan diamond was found below the surface at Premier Mine in Cullinan, Transvaal Colony, by Frederick Wells, surface manager at the mine, on 26 January 1905. It was approximately long, wide, deep, and weighed . Newspapers called it the "Cullinan Diamond", a reference to Sir Thomas Cullinan, who opened the mine in 1902. It was three times the size of the Excelsior Diamond, found in 1893 at Jagersfontein Mine, weighing . Four of its eight surfaces were smooth, indicating that it once had been part of a much larger stone broken up by natural forces. It had a blue-white hue and contained a small pocket of air, which at certain angles produced a rainbow, or Newton's rings.
Lucara Diamond
Lucara Diamond Corp. () is a diamond exploration and mining company, operating in southern Africa but established in Canada. In November 2015, Lesedi La Rona, the world's second largest gem-quality diamond ever found, was found at the Karowe mine in Botswana.On 18November 2015, the company announced the discovery of the Lesedi La Rona, the world's second largest gem-quality diamond ever (second only to the 3,106 carat Cullinan). The type IIa diamond was found in the company's Karowe mine in north-central Botswana. The diamond weighs 1,111 carat and measures . A day later, two more diamonds weighing 813 and 374 carat, were also found. All the stones came from the AK6 pipe opened 18 months earlier, it has since yielded over 1 million carats of diamonds. The company has sold the 813 carat Constellation in May 2016 for $63.1 million and a 341.9 carat diamond in July 2015 for $20.6 million. The Lesedi has since sold for $53 million.