196ct White Diamond Recovered at Letšeng Mine

An “exceptional” 196ct rough white diamond was recovered from Gem Diamonds Ltd’s majority-owned Letseng mine in Lesotho last month.

On announcing its August 24 recovery, the company said: “this remarkable rough diamond is expected to achieve a substantial price per carat as preliminary examinations indicate that it is expected to produce top colour and top clarity polished diamonds”.

 

The Letseng mine has produced three of the world’s 20 largest diamonds since Gem Diamonds acquired the asset in 2006. These include the 603ct Lesotho Promise (in August 2006) worth US$12.4 million, the 493ct Letseng Legacy (in September 2007) worth US$10.4 million, and the 478ct Light of Letseng (in September 2008) worth US$18.4 million.  All three of these diamonds were purchased by Lawrence Graff, who owns a 9 percent stake in Gem Diamonds.

Clifford Elphick, Gem Diamonds chief executive, said: “Letseng continues to live up to its reputation as a unique producer of exceptional diamonds and the recovery of this remarkable 196ct white diamond reinforces its position as one of the great mines in the diamond industry. In order to increase the returns from this world class asset, management is focused on a number of workstreams which aim to substantially expand production and increase value at Letšeng.”

 

With Letšeng's production of the world's most sought after white diamonds and the company's other mine in Australia, Ellendale's production of rare fancy yellow diamonds, Gem Diamonds remains focused on higher value diamonds. "This segment of the market is likely to deliver attractive long-term returns," concluded Elphick.

Gem Diamonds owns 70% of the Letseng mine, with the remainder held by the government of Lesotho.