博茨瓦纳发现世界第二大钻石

A Canadian miner claims it has unearthed¹ the biggest diamond to be found for more than a century, with the discovery of a 1,111 carat gem²-quality stone in Botswana.

一家加拿大采矿公司声称在博茨瓦纳发现了一颗重达1111克拉的宝石级钻石，为一个多世纪以来发现的最大钻石。

Lucara Diamond has released photographs of the stone, which was discovered at its Karowe mine. It measures 65mm x 56mm x 40mm and pictures of the clear-looking gem show it to be the size of a small orange. Analysts⁴ said the stone was difficult to value but should be worth tens of millions of dollars.

Lucara钻石公司公布了这颗在Karowe矿场发现的钻石照片。其尺寸为65 x 56 x 40毫米，照片上晶莹剔透的钻石看起来有一个小橙子大小。分析师表示，这颗钻石很难估价，但应该价值数千万美元。

Des Kilalea, an analyst³ at RBC Capital Markets, said the stone would be worth at least $35m, based on previous sales, and possibly up to $50m. Another industry professional estimated its value at $70m to $80m. Lucara sold a similar type of stone, weighing 342 carats, for $20.55m in July.

加拿大皇家银行资本市场(RBC Capital Markets)分析师达斯克拉利尔(Des Kilalea)表示，据以往的销售记录，这颗钻石至少值3500万美元，有可能高达5000万美元。另一名业内专业人士估计其价值在7000万美元到8000万美元之间。Lucara今年7月曾以2055万美元的价格出售过一颗重342克拉的类似品级钻石。

To date, the largest diamond ever discovered is the “Cullinan Diamond”, which was dug out of a South African mine in 1905. That 3,106 carat gem was cut and set in Britain’s crown jewels.

迄今为止，世界上最大的钻石是1905年在南非发现的“库里南钻石”(Cullinan Diamond)。这颗重达3106克拉的钻石被切割后，镶嵌在英国的王冠上。

William Lamb, chief executive⁵ of Lucara, said the Karowe diamond — about twice the size of any stone sold recently — also had “historical significance” that could influence the value.

Lucara公司首席执行官威廉瀠姆(William Lamb)表示，在Karowe开采出的这颗钻石还具有“历史意义”，可能影响其价值，该钻石比近期售出的大钻石都要大一倍。

“I have been waking up at 4am every night this week,” he said yesterday. “It is an amazing feeling and a great position to be in...琠栀椀猀 is the first stone of more than 1,000 carats for 100 years.”

兰姆昨日表示：“这个星期每天夜里我都会在凌晨4点醒来。我感到神奇，感到幸运…这是一百年来人类开采到的第一枚超过1000克拉的钻石。”

Lucara also announced finds of two other white diamonds: an 813 carat stone and a 374 carat stone. It said the weights remained subject to change as the stones have not yet been cleaned.

Lucara还宣布发现了另外两颗白色钻石，一颗813克拉，另一颗374克拉。该公司表示这两枚白钻的重量可能会发生变动，因为钻石尚未被清洗。