Lesotho : Gem Diamonds unearths 115 carat diamond at Letšeng

Gem Diamonds Ltd, LSE listed company, recovered a high quality 115 carat, D colour Type IIa diamond from the Letšeng mine located in the Maluti Mountains of Lesotho.

The announcement was made on 19 September and “follows the recovery of five other diamonds of over 100 carats so far in 2017 from Letšeng, the highest dollar per carat kimberlite diamond mine in the world”, the leading global diamond producer of high value diamonds reported. Gem Diamonds recovered 50,478 carats of diamonds, at a grade of 1.59cpht, from 1 January to 30 June this year at Letšeng mine.

Located at an average elevation of 3,100 metres above sea level, Letšeng mine is famous for the production of large, top colour, exceptional white diamonds.Over the past five years Letšeng has grown to be one of the largest open pit diamond mines in the world, processing ore from two kimberlite pipes, the Main pipe 17.0ha and the Satellite pipe 5.2ha.

Gem Diamonds has 70% ownership, against 30% for the government of Lesotho, of Letšeng mine that it acquired in 2006 for 118.5 million $. Since then, the mine produced four of the 20 largest white gem quality diamonds ever recorded. The portfolio of Gem Diamonds includes 100% ownership of Ghaghoo mine situated near the south-eastern border of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve in Botswana. This first underground diamond mine in Botswana consists of a 10.4ha kimberlite pipe, and has an insitu value of 4.9 billion US$.