Gem Diamonds and the Government of the Kingdom of Lesotho have named the 493 ct white diamond recovered from the LetSeng mine LetSeng Legacy. The LetSeng Legacy ranks as the world’s 18th largest rough diamond and was recovered from the LetSeng le Terai mine in Lesotho on September 7. Gem Diamonds says “the name reflects growing legacy that the LetSeng le Terai mine is creating as a producer of remarkable diamonds. LetSeng Diamonds, which is 70% owned by Gem Diamonds and 30% owned by the Government of the Kingdom of Lesotho, has now produced three of the world’s top 20 diamonds. Two of these were recovered by Gem Diamonds in the last 13 months – the 603 ct Lesotho Promise recovered in August 2006 and this 493 ct stone.
The LetSeng Legacy will be sold on tender in Antwerp by WWW International Diamond Consultants on Wednesday November 14 at a ceremony attended by the Lesotho Minister of Natural Resources, the Honourable Minister Monyane Moleleki, and the Gem Diamonds directors. The Lesotho Promise, which was the 15th largest rough diamond, was sold on tender in October 2006 for $12.4 million to Graff Jewellers. The collection of polished diamonds from the Lesotho Promise is expected to sell for between $25 and 30 million. The Lesotho Brown diamond was recovered in 1961 and ranks as the world’s 16th largest diamond. It yielded 18 polished diamonds, the largest of which was recently re-acquired by the original buyer, jewellers Harry Winston.
In January 2007, LetSeng Diamonds also produced a 215 ct D-colour flawless diamond which subsequently sold on tender for $8.3 million.
The LetSeng mine hosts two kimberlites, the Main and Satellite Pipes, that have a combined diamond resource value of $4.7 billion. It is renowned for producing some of the world’s largest diamonds which attract the highest average price per carat of any kimberlite mine. As reported in Gem Diamonds’ Interim Results to end June 2007 released in September, the average price per carat achieved from the LetSeng Satellite Pipe was $1,894 and $1,128 from the Main Pipe. This compares with the world average price of approximately $81/ct.