Archive

  • Just a week after announcing their last +100-cts diamond find, Gem Diamonds has announced its eleventh and twelfth +100-cts stone of this year. Usually, the Letseng mine in Lesotho is responsible for eight such diamonds a year, 2023 being an off-year with ‘only’ five finds. The newest one is a 126.21-ct Type II white diamond. 

  • Gem Diamonds has announced the recovery of an exceptional 172.06ct Type II white rough diamond, the seventh 100+ct diamond recovered at its Letšeng mine this year alone. 

  • Gem Diamonds Limited, the company that owns 70% of the Letseng mine in Lesoto, announced today the discovery of a 212.49ct Type II White Diamond. This remarkable stone was brought to the surface on May 28 and it is the sixth diamond weighing more than 100 carats to be unearthed this year from that mine. 

     

  • Lucapa, the Australian listed miner with operations in Angola (Lulo) and Lesotho (Mothae) is looking to divest its 70% stake in the Mothae mine after a review of its asset portfolio by the recently restructured Lucapa board of directors.

  • Lucapa, operating the Lulo mine in Angola and Mothae in Lesotho, reports Q1 results were down with revenues clocking at US$13.1m, down 28% y-o-y, and rough prices down 41%, from avg 1,350US$/ct to 798US$/ct. Lulo production focused on lower grade areas due to flooding, resulting in low grades in carats recovered, while Mothae production improved in terms of carats recovered but with a significantly lower frequency of exceptional, high value diamonds.

  • Gem Diamonds, who owns 70% of the Letšeng mine in Lesotho, has released its Q1 2024 Trading Update, which showcases robust operational and sales performances from January 1st to March 31st, 2024.

     

    Key Highlights from Q1: 

  • Storm Mountain Diamonds announced yesterday the recovery of a rare fancy intense pink diamond weighing 108.39ct at its Kao mine in the Kingdom of Lesotho. The stone was discovered earlier this year on March 23rd, 2023.The exceptionally rare Type IIa gemstone is one of the largest pink diamonds in history to have been recovered.

  • Firestone has reported the successful resumption of operations at the Liqhobong Mine after a two and-a-half-year care and maintenance period which commenced from March 2020. Firestone management remained mindful that any potential restart of activities would be required to take place at minimal cost and in the shortest possible timeframe. To achieve this, a number of work-streams were run in parallel, including, particularly, appointing a long-term mining contractor and essential staff.

  • In recent years, the Kao Mine in Lesotho has established itself as a leading producer of exceptional pink diamonds. Over the last few years, some remarkable stones have been recovered, including the Pink Storm, the Purple Princess and the Rose of Kao. The last discovery, the Pink Palesa a 21.86-carat Pink Palesa diamond, was sold in June of 2021 in Antwerp by Bonas Group.

  • Gem Diamonds has recovered another 114ct rough at the Letšeng Lesotho mine, just a month after the discovery of a 245ct Type II white, the fourth 100ct+ stone in the past two months. 

  • Barely two weeks after the discoveries of a 129ct and a 125ct, Gem Diamonds has added another rare find to the Lesotho Letšeng list, a 245ct white Type II white rough of exceptional quality. 

  • Gem Diamonds announced it has recovered a 125ct top white diamond at the Letšeng mine in Lesotho. Since 2006, the Lesotho mine, famed for its rough diamonds of exceptional sizes and quality, yielded more than 60 100+ct stones, 16 last year alone, six this year-to-date.

  • Gem Diamonds recovered a 114-carat Type 1 yellow diamond on 9 December 2019, the miner reported this afternoon. It is the 11th diamond weighing more than 100 carats to be recovered at the Letšeng mine in Lesotho in 2019, and the fourth yellow diamond that tops the 100-carat milestone. The miner recovered a 114.2-carat yellow diamond from the mine in August, as well as a 135- and 134-carat yellow earlier this year. Letšeng is renowned for known for yielding large, high-quality stones.

    Photo credit: Envato Elements