Tennis-ball sized diamond found by Canadian firm could fetch $70M
A Sotheby's employee holds Lesedi La Rona Diamond on May 3, 2016 in New York City. (Donald Bowers / Getty Images for Sotheby's, via AP)
The Associated Press
Published Wednesday, May 4, 2016 7:07AM EDT
Last Updated Wednesday, May 4, 2016 11:48AM EDT
LONDON - A London auctioneer says a diamond the size of a tennis ball that was unearthed by a Vancouver-based mining company could sell for more than $70 million US.
Sotheby's says it will offer the Lesedi la Rona diamond in London on June 29.
The diamond was unearthed in November in Botswana at a mine owned by Lucara Diamond Corp. (TSX:LUC). It measured 1,109 carats, the second-largest gem-quality rough diamond ever discovered.
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An 1,111-carat diamond is shown in this undated handout photo. (Lucara Diamond Corp., Lucian Coman/THE CANADIAN PRESS)
Its name means "our light" in the Tswana language. It is the largest discovered in more than a century.
The auctioneer said Wednesday that the rough gemstone could yield the largest top-quality diamond ever cut and polished.
Last year, Lucara sold a 341.9-carat diamond of the same type for US$20.55 million.
NEWS FLASH! Weekly World News reporter Horatio von Fraudster has peeled back the myth of the Lesedi diamond once and for all. And you're not going to believe what he found. . .
