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Big Stones Lift Gem Diamonds Results
Feb 4, 2018 7:13 AM
By Rapaport News
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RAPAPORT... Improved production of large diamonds at the high-value Letšeng mine in Lesotho drove an increase in Gem Diamonds’ sales in 2017.
Sales jumped 12% to $206.8 million for the year, the miner
said Friday. While the overall sales volume slipped 2% to 107,152 carats,
higher recoveries of large diamonds fueled a 14% rise in the average price to
$1,930 per carat.
The company, which owns a 70% stake in Letšeng, unearthed eight diamonds above 100 carats
in 2017, of which the largest was 202.16-carats, compared with five in 2016. Recoveries of diamonds weighing
more than 20 carats leapt to 214 from 179.
In addition, Gem Diamonds saw strong demand for large stones
in the fourth quarter, pushing sales up by 84% to $69.8 million, compared to $38 million the company reported a year ago. The average price
grew 54% to $2,217 per carat, according to Rapaport
calculations.
“The market for Letšeng's high-quality diamonds remained
robust over the [quarter],” said Gem Diamonds CEO Clifford Elphick.
During the fourth quarter, the company sold a 58.38-carat
white diamond for $3.6 million, or $61,905 per carat — the highest per-carat price it achieved
for a stone of that color all year. It also sold a 7.87-carat pink diamond for $1.6 milllion, or $202,222 per carat, the second-highest price per carat ever achieved for a Letšeng rough diamond,
the miner noted.
“It is also encouraging to see that the improvement in the
recovery of greater-than-100-carat diamonds is continuing into 2018, with five
greater-than-100-carat diamonds recovered in the first month of 2018,” Elphick
added. “This is largely attributable to the ongoing technical improvements made
at the Letšeng mine.”
One of those recent discoveries was a 910-carat stone the
company found in January, which, it claimed, was the fifth-largest rough stone
found in history.
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Tags:
Clifford Elphick, Gem Diamonds, large diamonds, Lesotho, Letšeng, Letšeng mine, Rapaport News
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