第2310期:Biggest Diamond in 100 Years Discovered in Botswana

Miners in Botswana recently unearthed what officials say is the second largest diamond in mining history. The country’s president Mokgweetsi Masisi presented the large stone to the public at a ceremony last week. 博茨瓦纳的矿工最近挖掘出了官方所说的采矿史上第二大钻石。该国总统莫克维齐·马西西 (Mokgweetsi Masisi) 在上周的仪式上向公众赠送了这块大石头。 The 2,492-carat gem is the biggest diamond to be discovered since 1905. The diamond weighs around a half-kilogram. Masisi was one of the first people to get to hold it. 这颗宝石重 2,492 克拉，是自 1905 年以来发现的最大钻石。钻石重约 0.5 公斤。马西西是最早持有它的人之一。 He expressed surprise at the diamond’s heaviness and told the gathering, “I am lucky to have seen it in my time." 他对这颗钻石的重量表示惊讶，并告诉与会者，“我很幸运能够在我那个时代看到它。”Lucara Diamond, a Canadian mining company, found the stone. Company officials said it was too early to value the gem or decide how it would be sold. A smaller uncut diamond from the same mine in Botswana sold for a record $63 million in 2016. 加拿大矿业公司卢卡拉钻石公司发现了这块石头。公司官员表示，现在对这颗宝石进行估值或决定如何出售还为时过早。2016 年，博茨瓦纳同一矿场出产的一颗较小的未切割钻石以 6,300 万美元的创纪录价格售出。 Naseem Lahri is a director with Lucara’s Botswana team. “This is history in the making,” she said of the new find. “I am very proud. It is a product of Botswana.” Naseem Lahri 是 Lucara 博茨瓦纳团队的总监。“这是正在创造的历史，”她谈到这一新发现时说道。“我非常自豪。它是博茨瓦纳的产品。” Lucara said in a statement last week that the company recovered what it called an “exceptional” diamond from Karowe Mine in central Botswana. Company miners used X-ray technology that is designed to find large, high-value diamonds. 卢卡拉上周在一份声明中表示，该公司从博茨瓦纳中部的卡罗韦矿回收了一颗所谓的“特殊”钻石。公司矿工使用 X 射线技术来寻找大型、高价值的钻石。 “We are ecstatic about the recovery of this extraordinary 2,492-carat diamond,” Lucara President and chief William Lamb said in a statement. “我们对这颗 2,492 克拉非凡钻石的发现感到欣喜若狂，”卢卡拉总裁兼首席执行官 William Lamb 在一份声明中表示。 The weight would make it the largest diamond found in 119 years. 这个重量使其成为 119 年来发现的最大钻石。 It also is the second-largest diamond ever mined, after the Cullinan Diamond. That 3,106-carat stone was unearthed in South Africa in 1905. The Cullinan was the source of several famous cut gems, including some among the British Crown Jewels. 它也是有史以来开采的第二大钻石，仅次于库里南钻石。这颗 3,106 克拉的宝石于 1905 年在南非出土。库里南是多种著名切磨宝石的产地，其中包括一些英国皇冠宝石。 Botswana, a country of 2.6 million people in southern Africa, is the second-biggest producer of natural diamonds behind Russia. 博茨瓦纳是南部非洲拥有 260 万人口的国家，是仅次于俄罗斯的第二大天然钻石生产国。 The Karowe Mine has produced four other diamonds over 1,000 carats in the last decade. 在过去十年中，Karowe 矿还生产了另外四颗超过 1,000 克拉的钻石。Before this discovery, the Sewelo diamond, which was found at the Karowe Mine in 2019, was recognized as the second-biggest mined diamond in the world at 1,758 carats. French fashion business Louis Vuitton bought the diamond. The sale price was not publicized. 在此发现之前，2019 年在 Karowe 矿发现的 Sewelo 钻石被认为是世界第二大开采钻石，重 1,758 克拉。法国时装公司路易威登购买了这颗钻石。销售价格并未公布。 A British jeweler bought the 1,111-carat Lesedi La Rona diamond, also from Botswana’s Karowe Mine, for $53 million in 2017. A Karowe diamond named The Constellation is the holder of the record $63 million sales price. 2017 年，一家英国珠宝商以 5,300 万美元的价格购买了同样来自博茨瓦纳 Karowe 矿的 1,111 克拉 Lesedi La Rona 钻石。一颗名为 The Constellation 的 Karowe 钻石创下了 6300 万美元的销售价格记录。 Diamonds form when carbon atoms are pushed close together by intense pressure conditions deep underground. Scientists say most diamonds are at least a billion years old and some of them more than 3 billion years old. 当碳原子在地下深处的高压条件下被挤在一起时，就会形成钻石。科学家表示，大多数钻石的年龄至少有 10 亿年，其中一些钻石的年龄超过 30 亿年。