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A model displays an emerald-cut white diamond, set as a ring.
Gem Diamonds, the London-listed diamond company operating in Lesotho, on Monday said it had sold its 550 carat Letseng Star for US$16.5 million or close to R132 million.
Currently ranked the 14th largest white diamond on record, the stone was recovered in August at Letseng Diamonds.
This is fourth diamond of such historical significance to be recovered at this mine in the last five years.
Letseng Diamonds is 70% owned by Gem Diamonds and 30% held by the government of the Kingdom of Lesotho.
Under the new sales and marketing strategy, the diamond was sold into a profit sharing arrangement, which would see the mine benefit from a share of the downstream polished margin uplift resulting from the sale of the polished diamonds cut from the original stone.
“The Letseng Star has the potential to yield an exceptional polished product and the profit sharing arrangement for the polished margin will ensure that its true value is realised and that Letseng Diamonds benefits directly from the exposure to the resulting upside,” said Gem Diamonds CEO Clifford Elphick.
He said Gem Diamonds' strategy of maximising revenue generation from rough diamonds by seeking value-added initiatives further up the diamond value chain was gaining importance for the group. - I-Net Bridge
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LM , wrote
This just puts into perspective everything that's wrong with the capitalist world. R130m for a piece of rock, just to show off to your rich buddies.
Anonymous, wrote
There are no clean hands in the mining sector. It starts with the sellers in London who have plundered these lands and continue to do so. In fact, the only clean hands are those of the miners who toil for less than peanuts and go home to die of horrible lung diseases without medical care
Anonymous, wrote
The mine, which used to belong to Brett Kebble, is reknowned for having the lowest grade Kimberlite rock, and yet producing some of the biggest diamonds. This high altitude mine, on the top of a mountain, also has an airstrip which accommodates international private jets, which fly in from Sierre Leone, bringing blood diamonds to be 'discovered' in Lesotho. This arrangement has the full support of the Lesotho government.
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