Gem Diamonds Posts 39% Jump In Diamonds Recovered From Letšeng In Q1

(IDEX Online News) – Gem Diamonds Limited reports a 39 percent rise on the year in diamonds recovered from the Letšeng mine in Lesotho in the first quarter of this year to 26,055 carats.

Sales rose 4 percent to 30,060 carats sold in the first three exports of 2014, and an average value per carat of $ 2,723 was achieved, up 70 percent on the first quarter last year.

The miner reported that17 rough diamonds with a value in excess of $1 million each were recovered during the period, and 44 rough diamonds achieved a value in excess of $20,000 per carat.

A total of 171 rough diamonds greater than 10.8 carats in size were sold in the quarter, equating to 81 percent of Letšeng’s revenue for the period.

Two exceptional large diamonds, weighing 162.02 carats and 161.31 carats, were recovered in January 2014 and sold in February for $11.1 million and $2.4 million, respectively.

Letšeng declared a dividend of $20.5 million during the quarter which resulted in a net cash flow of $12.9 million to Gem Diamonds and a cash outflow from the group as a result of withholding taxes of $1.5 million and payments of the government of Lesotho’s portion of the dividend of $6.1 million.

Gem Diamonds’ CEO, Clifford Elphick commented: “Strong diamond prices continue to be seen at the Letšeng tenders and this, coupled with the continuing contribution of ore sourced from the satellite pipe at Letšeng, has resulted in an increase in carats sold and an improvement in the average dollar per carat achieved. We continue to pursue low capital value-accretive projects to optimize the Letšeng mine and further capitalize on the high quality and potential of the asset."