Sourcing

Gem Diamonds Digs Up Two 100-Plus Carat Rocks

SourcingJan 08, 2018

Gem Diamonds Digs Up Two 100-Plus Carat Rocks

The miner recovered the stones from Lesotho’s Letšeng mine.

20180108_-Gem-HEADER.jpg
This picture provided by Gem Diamonds shows the 117-carat, D color Type IIa diamond just recovered from the Letšeng mine in Lesotho.

New York--Gem Diamonds Limited has started the year off with a bang.

The miner announced Monday that it has recovered two diamonds weighing over 100 carats each.

The 110- (pictured below) and 117-carat finds are both D color, Type IIa stones from the Letšeng mine in Lesotho.




Gem Diamonds owns 70 percent of the mine, which is renowned for its large, high-quality white diamonds.

The company acquired its stake in the mine in 2006, and since then, it has produced four of the 20 largest gem-quality diamonds ever found, making Letšeng the highest dollar per carat kimberlite diamond wine in the world, the miner said.

The announcement marks the continuation of big finds from 2017, a year in which Gem Diamonds mined seven rough diamonds weighing 100 carats or more, all but one of which were gem-quality.

The largest dug up in 2017 weighed 202 carats.

Ashley Davisis the senior editor, fashion at National Jeweler, covering all things related to design, style and trends.

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