Another big DIAMOND foundWhat is going on with all these finds. This one a meer 495 carots found in Lesotho. Here's link to 13 Sept 07 on Mining Weekly Online:
https://www.miningweekly.co.za/article.php?a_id=116763
Oh what the heck, I'll copy/paste it. I wonder if the picture will get pasted? If no, visit site.
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DIAMONDS
Gem finds 494ct diamond at Letseng - world's 18th biggest
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GEM OF A SALE
By: Mariaan Olivier
Published: 13 Sep 07 - 9:10
The world's 18th-largest rough diamond, a 494 ct stone, has been found at LSE-listed Gem Diamonds' Letseng mine, in Lesotho, the company said.
Gem Diamonds, which also released its interim results on Thursday, said that the diamond had an “excellent colour and high clarity”.
Last August, Letseng – the world’s highest diamond mine – produced the Lesotho Promise, a 603 ct diamond, which was sold for $12,4-million.
The Lesotho Brown diamond had been recovered at the mine in 1961, and was the 16th-largest rough diamond ever to be found. The mine also produced a 215 ct D-colour flawless diamond in January this year, which was sold for $8,3-million.
The Letseng mine, in which the Lesotho government had a 30% stake, hosts two kimberlites with a combined diamond resource value of $4,7-billion.
“This diamond is another remarkable find for the Letseng mine, barely a year after the recovery of the Lesotho Promise and confirms the Letseng mine’s reputation as the leading producer of large gem quality diamonds,” CEO Clifford Elphick commented.
The mine is renowned for producing some of the world’s largest diamonds, which attracted the highest average price a carat of any kimberlite mine.
The average price a carat achieved from the Letseng satellite pipe was $1 894, and from the main pipe was $1 128 in the last six months. This compared with the world average price of around S$81/ct.
GEM SWINGS INTO PROFIT
The company also reported on Thursday that it made a profit for the first six months of the year, ending June 30, from the comparative financial period. (Download full results below.)
Gem made a $16,32-million profit, compared with a loss of $5,21-million a year earlier. Earnings a share jumped to 0,15c a share, compared with a loss a share of 0,38c a share last June.
Elphick said that the group’s diamond resource had increased significantly over the period, and that this was providing a solid base to grow the company to a leading diamond firm.
The total in situ diamond resource of Gem Diamonds had increased by 148% to 14,9-million carats, while the reserve had increased from 1,13-million carats to 1,52-million carats.
He added that the company had an increasingly strong pipeline for delivering production, with new mines coming on stream and significant production increases expected from four different operations over the medium term.
At Letseng, Gem Diamonds would double the mine’s processing capacity with the construction of a second plant. Combined with the current 3,64 t/y processing plant, the two plants would process 5,25-million t/y.
“The construction of the second plant at Letseng is progressing well, and will be commissioned during the first quarter of 2008,” Elphick said.
Full production was scheduled for the second forecast of 2008.
The company also reported that its costs forecast for the development of additional capacity, a project estimated to cost $45-million, had increased by about 15%. But, it stated that it had implemented material scope changes during the construction phase.
“This is a good achievement in an environment where mining projects globally are experiencing significant cost overruns. Strong production and high diamond prices have allowed Letseng to fund this expansion project without any external financing.”