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Two Diamonds Over 100 Carats Found in Lesotho
One is a 105-carat D color, Type IIa diamond while the other is a yellow stone that weighs nearly 152 carats.
The Type I, 151.52-carat yellow diamond that Gem Diamonds found at the Letšeng mine in Lesotho this month.
London--Gem Diamonds has recovered two more sizable stones from its Letšeng mine in Lesotho, continuing what already has been a lucrative spring for the mining company.
Gem announced Monday that it found a 104.73-carat, D color, Type IIa diamond and a Type I yellow diamond that’s 151.52 carats at the mine recently.
Last month, the London-based miner announced the recovery of 98.42-carat and 80.58-carat Type IIa diamonds at Letšeng and, the month before, the mining company found a 114-carat stone at the same mine.
The continued recovery of larger stones at Letšeng is good news for Gem Diamonds, which depends on big, better quality diamonds that fetch a high per-carat price in order to turn a profit. Last year, the company lost money, with the drop in the number of diamonds over 100 carats recovered impacting cash flow and revenue.
Gem Diamonds owns 70 percent of the Letšeng mine in Lesotho, with the government there possessing the remaining 30 percent. Letšeng is known as a source for large, high quality diamonds, having produced four of the 20 biggest white gem-quality diamonds on record.
Gem also owns 100 percent of the Ghaghoo mine in Botswana, though that project remains mothballed until demand for diamonds picks up globally.
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