Prospecting for diamonds can be a frustrating process but the rewards for success can be huge. Just ask the team at Gem Diamonds (LON:GEMD), which has sold two world-class stones.
The pair, unearthed from the company’s Letšeng mine in Lesotho, brought in a combined US$12.3mln.
The rare 12.47-carat blue diamond fetched a record price for Letšeng of US$ 603,047 per carat, giving a total of US$7.5mln.
The “exceptional quality” 82-carat white diamond fetched US$ 59,173 per carat, for a total of US$ 4.8mln.
Gem Diamonds’ chief Clifford Elphick told investors: "Letšeng continues to achieve such outstanding prices for its exceptional diamonds and we continue to expect recovery of such high quality diamonds as mining at Letšeng continues to focus more on the higher grade, higher value Satellite pipe towards the end of 2013 and into 2014."