London: Gem Diamonds said its revenue dropped to $118 million in the first six months of the year from $148.9 million realised a year earlier.

The company said in a statement emailed to Rough & Polished that its attributable profit also dropped to $15.4 million during the same period from $19.7 million in the first half of 2014.

Gem Diamonds said it recovered 50,019 carats from the Letseng mine in Lesotho in the first half of the year, at an average value of $2,264 per carat. Its Ghaghoo mine in Botswana which was commissioned recently recovered 35,283 carats.

“Letšeng continues to consistently produce the large, exceptional quality diamonds. Prices for these goods have remained firm, despite the current challenging conditions in the diamond market,” said company chief executive Clifford Elphick.

“The company continues to demonstrate capital discipline and, at Letšeng, we have successfully completed the low capex incremental growth projects on time and on budget.”

He said the mine development and ramp up to full planned production rates at Ghaghoo continued to “progress”, despite challenges in localized ground conditions.

Ephick said the first parcel of Ghaghoo commissioning diamonds was sold in February 2015 for $2.1 million, achieving $210 per carat.

In July, a second parcel was sold for $4.9 million ($165 per carat), a lower price given the current market conditions.

“Encouragingly, as production begins to ramp up, a number of larger white diamonds and small coloured diamonds were recovered during the period,” he said.