A 143 carat high quality white Type II diamond recovered at Letšeng on 5 September 2020, which follows the recovery of the 442 and the 233 carat diamonds and highlights the strong operational performance at Letšeng in these difficult times.
The Letšeng mine is famous for the size and quality of the diamonds it produces and has the highest average selling price in the world. Two years ago Gem Diamonds found a 910-carat stone, the size of two golf balls, that sold for $40 million.
The find comes as the global diamond industry has been brought to its knees by the pandemic. Jewelry stores have closed and India’s cutting industry, which handles almost all of the world’s stones, has come to a halt. The miners that dominate the industry, De Beers and Russian rival Alrosa PJSC, have seen their rough diamond sales collapse.
