And the winner is: Lesedi La Rona!
Pauline Dikuelo | Wednesday February 10, 2016 08:57
The stone, which is the world’s second largest diamond ever discovered, will be known as ‘Lesedi La Rona’ meaning ‘Our Light’.
“The diamond is the pride, light and hope of Batswana. Diamonds are the main contributor to the economy and are a big part of the heritage of Botswana,” Moitlhobogi said at a media briefing yesterday afternoon.
According to Lucara’s chief financial officer Naseem Laihr, the selection process was not easy as they received close to 11,000 entries with many creative submissions to choose from.
“To ensure transparency and independence during the name selection process, the audit firm of Ernst and Young were retained to oversee the competition,” said Laihr.
The judging panel consisted of five executives from both Lucara and Karowe mine.
“Entries were submitted to the judging panel on a no-name basis with Ernst and Young retrieving the winner’s name after the panel had selected the winning name for the diamond,” she added.
Batswana were given the opportunity to name the 1,111-carat stone after it was discovered two months ago at Karowe Mine.
The type-IIa stone, just smaller than a tennis ball, is the biggest unearthed since the 3,106 carat Cullinan gem found in South Africa in 1905. The Cullinan stone was cut into pieces which are set in the Crown Jewels of Britain.
Although Lucara CEO William Lamb declined to estimate how much the diamond could be valued at, he previously told Bloomberg that the company would be looking for a price north of US$60 million for the stone.
Exceptionally large rough diamonds can sell for about $60,000 per carat, though Lamb hopes that its status will boost its value.
The CEO, who has already turned down an offer of more than $40 million, told Bloomberg the company has been approached by London’s Natural History Museum about displaying the stone and the Discovery Channel who are interested in making a documentary about it.