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Botswana discovers 2nd largest diamond in the world

Published

3 months ago

August 24, 2024

A Canadian mining company has announced that it has found a massive 2,492-carat diamond in Botswana, the second-largest diamond in the world.

The diamond was found using X-ray detection technology in the Karowe diamond mine in northeastern Botswana, according to a statement from Lucara Diamond.

The company did not estimate the find’s value, but it is second only in carats to the 3,106-carat Cullinan Diamond discovered in South Africa in 1905.

“We are ecstatic about the recovery of this extraordinary 2,492-carat diamond,” Lucara president William Lamb said in the statement.

This find was “one of the largest rough diamonds ever unearthed” and detected using the company’s Mega Diamond Recovery X-ray technology installed in 2017 to identify and preserve large, high-value diamonds, the statement said.

The translucent stone, the size of a palm, was delivered to President Mokgweetsi Masisi at his office later on Thursday by Naseem Lahri, the managing director of Lucara Botswana.

“I’m told this is the largest diamond to be discovered in Botswana to date and the second in the world,” Masisi said, congratulating the company on the find. “This is precious.”

According to data from the International Monetary Fund, Botswana is one of the biggest producers of diamonds in the world, which are its primary source of income and account for 30% of its GDP and 80% of its exports.

Approximately 2.5 million people live in this arid and poorly populated nation, which was impoverished in 1966 when it gained independence from Britain.

A year after diamonds were found, the IMF claims that the nation is currently the world’s top producer of diamonds by value.

Lucara asserts that a royalty equal to 10% of the total sales value of diamonds produced in Karowe will be paid to the government, regardless of whether the diamond is sold polished or raw.

“With a diamond of this magnitude, I can see roads being built,” said Masisi, as he posed for pictures with the huge stone.

“This discovery is largely thanks to newer technology that allows larger diamonds to be extracted from the ground without breaking into pieces. So we will likely see more where this came from,” he said.

The largest diamond found in Botswana before its announcement on Thursday was a 1,758-carat stone called Sewelo that Lucara had mined at the Karowe mine in 2019.

Using the same X-ray equipment, Lucara discovered a 1,174-carat diamond in Botswana in 2021. Since the mine’s 2012 start of operations, 216 diamonds have been sold for more than $1 million apiece, and more than 11 single stones have been sold for more than $10 million each.

The mining sector in Botswana is still one of the most important in the world, particularly for diamonds, of which the country is the world’s top producer in terms of value. This industry’s performance is dependent on worldwide demand, which is why the COVID-19 epidemic severely hurt it.

Long-term trends have indicated a drop in mineral revenues, primarily because of higher expenses, particularly in the diamond business. This is despite the fact that this sector accounts for around one third of total sales and roughly 80% of foreign exchange earnings.

Related Topics:Botswana Diamond Featured

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Kenya seeks $750m from World Bank, obtains $200m from AfDB— Official

Published

21 hours ago

November 20, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

The head of debt management for the finance ministry told Reuters that Kenya had obtained a $200 million loan from the African Development Bank (AfDB) and was negotiating a fresh $750 million loan with the World Bank.

After being forced to abandon proposed tax rises costing more than 346 billion shillings ($2.68 billion) in June due to fatal demonstrations, the East African nation’s administration, which has been grappling with significant debt, has been frantically seeking fresh funding.

The Finance Ministry’s public debt management office director general, Raphael Owino, told Reuters that the IMF’s October clearance of the seventh and eighth reviews, which opened the door for a $606 million loan tranche, had aided the ministry’s talks for more loans.

“The World Bank is coming on board, riding on the back of IMF receipts,” Owino said. “The AfDB is already on board.”

The discussions for more assistance, which came under the World Bank’s “Development Policy Operations” (DPO) with the government, were confirmed by a representative at the organization’s Kenya office.

“The amount of the current (loan) is yet to be determined. The amount will also depend on the implementation of the policy reforms agreed upon,” the spokesperson told Reuters, adding that past DPO loans averaged about $750 million.

In May, the World Bank approved the latest round of DPO loans, totalling $1.2 billion.

According to a statement made last month by Finance Minister John Mbadi, Kenya has set a foreign borrowing goal of 168 billion shillings for the fiscal year ending in June 2025.

VenturesNow

Dangote refinery begins petroleum sales to West Africa

Published

1 day ago

November 20, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

In an indication to traders that the activities of its mega-refinery might soon disrupt regional fuel markets, Nigeria’s private Dangote Petroleum Refinery has started exporting refined petroleum products to neighbouring West African nations.

According to a Bloomberg story on Tuesday, a tanker had transported a consignment of petrol from the Dangote Petroleum Refinery to seas off the coast of Togo, a nearby West African nation. The article cited data from Vortexa, Kpler, Precise Intelligence, a port report, and a ship-tracking tool.

According to the source, a CL Jane Austen recently departed west after loading over 300,000 barrels from Dangote.

Recall that Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, the chairman of the Ghana National Petroleum Authority, stated last month that the nation is thinking of purchasing petroleum products from the Dangote refinery in order to reduce the approximately $400 million it spends each month on more costly exports from Europe.

Speaking at the OTL Africa Downstream Oil Conference in Lagos, the chairman of NPA, Ghana, said that by eliminating freight expenses, buying from Nigeria instead of Europe will lower the cost of other products and services.

“If the refinery reaches 650,000bpd a day capacity, all that volume cannot be consumed by Nigeria alone, so instead of us importing as we do right now from Rotterdam, it will be much easier for us to import from Nigeria and I believe that will bring down our prices,” Hamid said.

Two weeks ago, it was announced that the refinery would start exporting fuel to Namibia, Angola, and South Africa. Four more African nations—Niger Republic, Chad, Burkina Faso, and Central Africa Republic—had also begun talks with the refinery, it was said.

According to a very reliable source who spoke directly to one of our reporters, the management of the refinery with a capacity of 650,000 barrels per day was in the advanced stages of negotiations with the nations to begin lifting petroleum.

“I can confirm to you that talks are actually at the advanced stage with Ghana, Angola, Namibia, and South Africa, while the initial discussion is coming up with Niger, Chad, Burkina Faso, and the Central African Republic,” the source said.

The petroleum product shipment is currently floating off the coast of Lome, which is a well-liked location for ship-to-ship transfers, according to the source.

Furthermore, the final destination of the cargo of the CL Jane Austen is uncertain.

Despite being off Togo, the region is frequently utilised for ship-to-ship transfers, thus the gasoline may eventually be transported elsewhere.

“While the shipment is tiny in the context of the global gasoline market, it signals the ramp-up of Dangote’s production and the potential to export significant volumes of gasoline beyond Nigeria, which could upend regional markets.”

Last month, the refinery sent its first shipment of petrol by sea to Lagos, a neighbouring commercial centre.

Under the regulatory statute, the Federal Government last month terminated the state-owned oil company’s monopoly on purchasing gasoline from the plant for domestic use, but it has permitted the ongoing importation of fuel from the US and Europe.