Lonrho Mining has discovered an "exceptional 61,30 carat fancy yellow diamond" at its Schmidtsdrift Mine, along the western bank of the Vaal River, the company said on Thursday.

It said that the diamond is octahedron in shape and is expected to yield a high value.

Since the company commenced operations in April 2006 and up to April 30, 2008, the Schmidtsdrift mine has produced 16 395 carats of diamonds from 3 255 969 tons at an average grade of 0,5 carats per hundred tons.

The production included 328 stones in excess of 5 carats in size, including a rare 235 carat stone, two 66 carat stones and 25 stones between 15 and 50 carats in size.
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