Shares in Paragon Diamonds (LON:PRG) rose 7% as the market hailed the successful sale of stones that achieved values as high as US$2,500 a carat.
That valuation was for ‘fancy yellow’ diamonds unearthed during last year’s bulk sampling programme at the Lemphane kimberlite in Lesotho.
The sale was part of a marketing exercise to assess the demand for Lemphane’s bounty as it prepares to go into initial production.
Stage-one will involve the extraction of 1mln tonnes of ore.
According to an independent report, this could to lead to the recovery of over 100 diamonds larger than nine carats, including stones over 100 carats in size.
Paragon chairman Philip Falzon Sant Manduca said: "With stage-one production at Lemphane fast approaching, the successful sale of diamonds demonstrates management's focus on ensuring all relevant stages in the production and sales of diamonds have been tried and tested.
“This ensures that Paragon hits the ground running once mining and distribution operations commence in the first quarter of next year.
“Based on our excellent diamond mining address and the work we have carried out to date, we are highly confident Lemphane will provide Paragon with a source of large high value diamonds for years to come, giving the company an excellent platform to build a leading and cost efficient, diamond house.”
Paragon reported “significant progress” sourcing, designing and approving a brand new modular state-of-the-art processing plant using the latest X-Ray recovery technology.
This sort of kit has, the firm said, proved highly successful at other mining operations, increasing recovery of larger stones and significantly enhancing the project economics.
At 2.10pm, the shares, up 15% in the last month, were changing hands for 4.05p, up 7%.