Let??eng Yields Record 12th Huge Stone This Year

RAPAPORT... Gem Diamonds has recovered a 138-carat stone from its Let??engmine in Lesotho, bringing the company's total number of 100-carat-plusdiscoveries this year to a record 12. The type lla rough diamond has top-white color, the minersaid Wednesday. With this find, the company has surpassed the 11 exceptionally large diamonds it unearthed in 2015. Earlier this year, Gem Diamonds recovered the 910-caratLesotho Legend, which the company claimed to be the fifth-largest rough stone inhistory. It sold for $40 million in March. Gem Diamonds' recovery of large stones has boosted itsfinancial results. Revenue jumped 43% year on year in the first half of 2018, with a 33%increase in the average price per carat. The miner owns 70% of the Let??eng asset, with the governmentof Lesotho holding the remaining 30%.