Maseru: Gem Diamonds announced the recovery of a high-quality 202-carat, D color Type IIa diamond from the Letšeng mine in Lesotho. It is the seventh diamond of over 100 carats to be recovered to date in 2017 from Letšeng. In 2016, Gem Diamonds unearthed just five diamonds larger than 100 carats.

In their Q3 2017 trading update, Gem Diamonds’ CEO, Clifford Elphick said, “The market for Letšeng’s high-quality diamonds has remained firm over the Period with the July tender achieving nearly $2,400 per carat. It is pleasing to see carats recovered during the Period up by 23% over the prior period.” Specifically, they achieved an average price of $ 2,397 per carat for the July tender, making it the highest achieved US$ per carat for a tender since September 2015. The achieved an average price of $1,858 per carat in Q3, up 4% from $1,779 per carat in H1 2017.