Big Stones Lift Gem Diamonds Sales

RAPAPORT... Improved production of large diamonds at the high-value Let??engmine in Lesotho drove an increase in Gem Diamonds' sales in 2017. Sales jumped 12% to $206.8 million for the year, the minersaid 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 Let??eng, unearthed eight diamonds above 100 caratsin 2017, of which the largest was 202.16-carats, compared with five in 2016. Recoveries of diamonds weighingmore than 20 carats leapt to 214 from 179. In addition, Gem Diamonds saw strong demand for large stonesin the fourth quarter, pushing sales up by 84% to $69.8 million, compared to $38 million the company reported a year ago. The average pricegrew 54% to $2,217 per carat, according to Rapaportcalculations."The market for Let??eng's high-quality diamonds remainedrobust over the [quarter]," said Gem Diamonds CEO Clifford Elphick. During the fourth quarter, the company sold a 58.38-caratwhite diamond for $3.6 million, or $61,905 per carat - the highest per-carat price it achievedfor 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 Let??eng rough diamond,the miner noted. "It is also encouraging to see that the improvement in therecovery of greater-than-100-carat diamonds is continuing into 2018, with fivegreater-than-100-carat diamonds recovered in the first month of 2018," Elphickadded. "This is largely attributable to the ongoing technical improvements madeat the Let??eng mine." One of those recent discoveries was a 910-carat stone thecompany found in January, which, it claimed, was the fifth-largest rough stonefound in history.