It is not always down to size. Well, at least this is what Gem Diamonds (LON:GEMD) told us on Thursday after the discovery of one of the highest-quality stones to come out of the company’s Letšeng mine in Lesotho.
Pictured is the 80-carat, D-colour Type-II diamond. And it isn’t a one-off. Diggers made a 114-carat discovery a month ago and in 2015 it uncovered an “exceptional” 357-carat whopper, sold for US$19.3mln.
It makes Letšeng the highest dollar per carat kimberlite diamond mine in the world.
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Talking about the most recent find, chief executive Clifford Elphick said: "Although this 80-carat diamond is not of the very large size for which Letšeng is renowned, it is one of the highest quality diamonds recovered at the Letseng mine and is entirely undamaged making this a significant recovery.”
At an average elevation of 3,100 metres (10,000 feet) above sea level, Letšeng is one of the highest diamond mines in the world.
Since Gem Diamonds acquired the operation in 2006, it has produced four of the 20 largest white gem quality diamonds ever recovered.
They come from two kimberlite pipes, the igneous rock that contains the precious stones.
To this day, it continues to deliver exceptional returns for its shareholders, with annual production rising since the takeover from 55,000 carats in 11 years ago to averaging over 100,000 carats annually.
The shares advanced 3% to 86.75p following the back of the latest discovery.