The Diamond Certification Laboratory of Australia (DCLA)
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Gem Diamonds Limited has announced the discovery of an exceptional 183-carat white Type IIa diamond from the Letseng mine in Lesotho on February 3.
The miner also announced that it also recovered two different high quality diamonds, one of 89 carats and the other of 70 carats, from the mine.
The Letseng mine is the highest dollar per carat kimberlite diamond mine in the world.
Gem Diamonds published its results for the first half of 2019, reporting a revenue of $91.3 million, compared to $167.7 million during the first half of 2018.
The miner’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) stood at 25.3 million, compared to 70.7 million in 2018. Its attributable profit, from continuing operations was $6.6 million against $26.8 million in 2018.
The considerable fall in income and profits also had its impact on the basic earnings per share: 4.8 US cents from continuing operations , opposite 19.4 US cents in 2018.
Commenting on the company’s results, Clifford Elphick, Chief Executive of Gem Diamonds, said:
“Letseng achieved $ 1,697 per carat for the period with the sale of the 13.32 carat pink diamond achieving a Letseng record of $ 656,934 per carat, reaffirming the unique quality of Letseng’s diamond production.
The prices achieved for the period are 10 percent up from the prices achieved in the preceding six month period, notwithstanding the planned limited contribution from the Satellite pipe ore and current diamond market conditions.
The Group has successfully implemented the business transformation program, already achieving $42 million net of fees, and is on track to deliver the planned $100 million in cost savings and efficiencies by 2021.”
Source: idexonline
Gem Diamonds has recovered its third yellow diamond over 100 carats this year, following a two year dearth of stones in that hue and size.
The miner found the 114.2-carat rough on August 22 at its Letšeng mine in Lesotho, it said Monday. The company unearthed a 135-carat, yellow diamond from the deposit in June, and a similar 134-carat stone was brought up in March. Prior to those recoveries, Letšeng hadn’t yielded a yellow diamond over 100 carats since June 2017, when Gem Diamonds retrieved a 151.52-carat rough at the site.
The discovery is also the sixth over 100 carats the miner, known for its large-stone retrieval, has unearthed so far this year. These include three white diamonds, weighing 123.5, 140 and 161 carats.
During the first six months of the year, the miner recovered three stones over 100 carats, compared to 10 of that size during the same period a year ago. The lack of large stones in comparison with last year has hurt Gem Diamonds’ revenue. Sales of rough diamonds fell 44% to $94.5 million in the first half, with the average price dropping from $2,742 per carat to $1,697.
Source: diamonds.net
Gem Diamonds has recovered a white diamond weighing 140 carats, the second over 100 carats it has reported this year.
It found the high-quality stone on July 6 at its Letšeng mine in Lesotho, the company said Monday. In March, it found a 161-carat white diamond at the deposit.
The miner recently recovered two yellow diamonds from Letšeng weighing more than 100 carats. It retrieved a 134-carat stone in March, and another weighing 135-carats last month.
So far this year, Gem Diamonds has recovered four diamonds over 100 carats. In 2018, it unearthed a total of 15.
Source: Diamonds.net
Gem Diamonds has recovered another 100 carat plus rough diamond this year.
The recovery of the D colour type IIa stone shortly after the recovery of a 910 carat D colour IIa rough diamond from Letšeng last week.
Gem Diamonds began extracting ore from a higher grade part of Letšeng last year, resulting in the increase of large stones.
Gem Diamonds Letseng mine is located in the mountainous kingdom of Lesotho in southern Africa.