Gem Diamonds finds 254-carat diamond at Letseng

Cecilia Jamasmie | May 4, 2021 | 9:16 am News Africa Diamond 
Gem Diamonds finds 254-carat diamond at Letseng
The 254 carat Type II, white diamond. (Image courtesy of Gem Diamonds.)

Africa-focused Gem Diamonds (LON:GEMD) has found a high quality 254 carat Type II, white gem at its Letšeng mine in Lesotho, the highest dollar per carat diamond mine in the world.

Since acquiring Letšeng in 2006, the company has found more than 60 white gem quality diamonds over 100 carats each, with 16 of them recovered last year.

At an average elevation of 3,100 metres (10,000 feet) above sea level, Letšeng is also one of the world’s highest diamond mines.

Gem Diamonds’ performance improved significantly in 2020, despite pandemic-related restrictions.

The miner saw sales rise 4% to $189.2 million for the year, with the average price jumping 17% to $1,908 per carat, up from $1,637 per carat achieved in 2019. That outweighed an 11% decline in sales volume to 99,172 carats.

The company sold 34 diamonds for over $1 million each last year.

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