LSE-listed Gem Diamonds continued to recover large diamonds during the first half of this year, with a record ten diamonds greater than 100 ct recovered at its Letšeng mine, in Lesotho.

Gem recovered another such diamond in July, which resulted in the highest number of more-than-100-ct diamond recoveries in a single year.

Letšeng sold 61 696 ct of diamonds in the six months to June 30, with 25 diamonds having sold for more than $1-million each, generating revenue of $99.1-million during the period.

Gem Diamonds CEO Clifford Elphick noted that the market for Letšeng’s high-quality white rough diamonds remained robust over the period, achieving an average price of $2 742/ct, which is up 33%, compared with the average price of $2 061/ct in the first half of 2017.

Operational Performance
Letšeng treated 2.5-million tonnes of ore during the six-month period, 59% of which was sourced from the Main pipe and 41% from the Satellite pipe. The balance of the ore, 500 000 t, was treated through the Alluvial Ventures contractor plant; 54% of the ore was sourced from the Main pipe and 46% from low-grade stockpiles.

Waste stripping was reduced in line with the long-term mine plan.

A new scrubber shell was successfully installed at Plant 2 during the second quarter of the year. The feed rate into the plant has reverted to normal levels since the shutdown was completed.

The installation of the new shell was a complex operation and took longer than planned, owing to the concrete foundation of the scrubber installation requiring full rehabilitation. Consequently, the shutdown was extended by ten days, which is the primary reason for the reduction in tonnage treated during the period.

During the scrubber change-out, an initiative to run a bypass conveyer was implemented, which mitigated the overall impact of lost tonnages.

As previously announced, Gem lodged an application for the renewal of the Letšeng mining lease with the Prime Minister of Lesotho. It expects the lease to be renewed to 2034.

The terms of the renewed mining lease are currently being negotiated with the

Lesotho Mining Board.