Gem Diamonds Ltd (LON:GEMD) said it was allowed to reopen its Letšeng mine in Lesotho on Monday, despite the African country is in lockdown until 5 May.
The miner said operations will be respecting safety guidelines and added that, to date, there were no cases of coronavirus in Lesotho or in any of its international operations.
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The firm added it has concluded two successful flexible tender sale processes for Letšeng diamonds, which fetch more per carat than almost any other mine in the world.
Shares advanced 11% to 39.8p on Friday morning.