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164 ct Letšeng diamond sells for $9m

31st May 2013

By: Natasha Odendaal

Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

  

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JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – London-listed Gem Diamonds has sold a 164 ct Lesotho diamond for $9-million through a profit sharing arrangement, which would see the miner generate additional revenue post cut and polish.

The quality 164 ct D colour, Type IIa rough diamond, fetched $54 911/ a ct and was expected to produce top-colour and top-clarity polished diamonds, CEO Clifford Elphick said on Friday.

The diamond was recovered from the main pipe, at the company’s flagship Lesotho-based Letšeng mine, on April 30.

A 103 ct undamaged diamond was also recovered from the main pipe during May, albeit of a lesser quality than the 164 ct, and would be sold on the next tender in June.

Elphick said that the remaining two new secondary and tertiary crushers – which were designed to improve recovery of undamaged stones – were on schedule to be installed before the end of June.

This followed the timely installation and commissioning of the first two crushers at Plant 2 during the second quarter in efforts to reduce damaged diamonds during recovery.

Liberum Capital said in a statement to clients that the “early results” – including the recovery of quality stones from a lower-grade deposit and the improvement in recovering undamaged diamonds, owing to the first two crushers – boded well for the diamond producer.

Gem Diamonds was currently progressing from the lower-grade and lower-value section of the Main pipe, where mining had temporarily been restricted and where the two diamonds were recovered, into the higher-quality, higher-value Satellite pipe, by June, which would result in improved revenue for the remainder of the year.

“We reiterate Gem Diamonds as our top pick within the small to mid-cap miners, with the diamond market showing stronger signals of a structured recovery, and multiple initiatives in place to reduce diamond damage, boost recoveries and overall carat production,” Liberum said in a statement.

Edited by Mariaan Webb
Creamer Media Contract Publishing Editor

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