Two large diamond finds rescue Gem Diamonds

Two rare diamonds bigger than 100 carats have been found at a South African mine famous for its exceptional white diamonds, bringing relief to a Britain- based firm struggling for some time with a lack of big finds.
Gem Diamonds said in a statement today the two stones unearthed at the Letseng mine in the tiny Lesotho kingdom landlocked within South Africa were a 104.73 carat D colour Type IIa diamond and a 151.52 carat Type I yellow diamond.
Type IIa diamonds contain very little or no nitrogen atoms and are the most expensive stones.
The Letseng mine is famous for producing large, top colour, exceptional white diamonds, making it the highest dollar per carat kimberlite diamond mine in the world, with an average sales price of almost USD 2,000 a carat, the highest in the industry.

Since Gem Diamonds' acquisition of Letseng in 2006, the mine has produced four of the 20 largest white gem quality diamonds ever recorded.
The mine produced the famous 603-carat Lesotho Promise in 2006 and in 2015 a 357-carat stone found there was sold for USD 19.3 million.

But the company has been under pressure recently after a lack of big finds that left shareholders concerned enough for 27 per cent of them to vote against the re-election of Chief Executive Officer Clifford Elphick at a meeting last week.
During 2016, Gem Diamonds found just five big stones larger than 100 carats, less than half those of the preceding year.

Weak prices for the lower-quality stones produced at its Ghaghoo mine in neighbouring Botswana led to Gem announcing in February this year that it had been placed on care and maintenance until market conditions allow for recommencement of production.
Gem Diamonds owns 70 per cent of the Letseng mine and 100 per cent of the Ghaghoo mine.