Gem Diamond Mining Company of Africa recently announced the discovery and sale of one of the largest rough diamonds ever unearthed. The 603 carat monster was found on August 22 at the Letseng diamond mine in Lesotho, a tiny kingdom in southern Africa. The diamond is described as approximately thirty percent bigger than the size of a golf ball. Named the "Lesotho Promise" it is the fifteenth largest rough diamond and the tenth biggest white diamond ever found. The rough gem was auctioned on October 9 in Belgium for $12.39 million. The purchaser is Safdico (South African Diamond Company) which is the Belgian manufacturing arm of Graff Jewelers, a high-end retailer specializing in important diamonds and jewelry. It is estimated that the rough diamond would be yeild several large faceted diamonds of perfect color, including possibly a large heart shape, and have a finished value of approximately $20 million.
Gem Diamond Mining Company recently acquired 70% of the Letseng mine and had been operating the mine only a matter of weeks before the discovery was made. The Letseng mine is known for large, gem quality rough diamonds, producing many gems over 100 carats with top color. According to reports approximately 90% of the diamonds from this mine are of gem quality with a significant portion being D color.
Gem Diamond Mining Company of Africa, also known as Gem Diamonds, shares a similar name but is not affiliated with gemdiamond.com.
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