442-carat diamond discovered Letseng mine in Lesotho

[Fred Gunner]

Miner Finds 442-Carat Diamond That May Be Worth $18 Million

A small diamond miner that has dug some of the world’s most valuable gems from a mountainous African kingdom has found another huge stone.

Gem Diamonds Ltd. said Friday it had an unearthed a 442-carat diamond at its Letseng mine in Lesotho. While it’s hard to establish a price for such stones before cutters can evaluate them, it could sell for as much as $18 million, Edward Sterck, analyst at BMO Capital Markets, wrote in a note.

Given the rarity of such large stones, demand for big diamonds has traditionally been resilient, even at times when the wider industry has struggled.

The Letseng mine is famous for the size and quality of the diamonds it produces and has the highest average selling price in the world. Two years ago Gem Diamonds found a 910-carat stone, the size of two golf balls, that sold for $40 million.

The find comes as the global diamond industry has been brought to its knees by the pandemic. Jewelry stores have closed and India’s cutting industry, which handles almost all of the world’s stones, has come to a halt. The miners that dominate the industry, De Beers and Russian rival Alrosa PJSC, have seen their rough diamond sales collapse.

“The recovery of this remarkable 442 carat diamond, one of the world’s largest gem quality diamonds to be recovered this year, is further confirmation of the caliber of the Letseng mine and its ability to consistently produce large, high quality diamonds,” Clifford Elphick, Gem’s chief executive officer, said in the statement.

Miner Finds 442-Carat Diamond That May Be Worth $18 Million

www.bloomberg.com

Shares of the small miner GEMD, +10.71% surged 10% after the company announced the discovery of carat Type II diamond from the Letšeng mine in Lesotho, South Africa. It’s the “highest dollar per carat kimberlite diamond mine in the world,” said the global miner.

 

[Fred Gunner]

In 2018, Gem Diamonds found a 910-carat diamond known as the "Lesotho Legend" at the Letseng mine that eventually sold for $40 million.

 

[gillettehunter]

I was reading that the Letseng mine in Lesotho is not only at the highest elevation of any diamond mine in the world (10,170), but also has the highest price per carat for the rough diamonds produced there. I read $1700/ct. Looks like a very nice piece of rough. Should cut a spectacular gem.
Bruce

 

[R.M.C.]

Incredible

 

[flatwater bill]

What usually happens with these monsters? Do they remain whole and go into a collection, or get cut up into smaller stones? I imagine the days of putting them on the Queen's Crown or the King's Scepter have passed. .........FWB

 

[CBH Australia]

What usually happens with these monsters? Do they remain whole and go into a collection, or get cut up into smaller stones? I imagine the days of putting them on the Queen's Crown or the King's Scepter have passed. .........FWB

I magine you are correct. I expect cutting it up into little pieces would get a whole lot less too. Smaller diamonds are already available.
I think the value is in the rarity of the big stones. For those who can afford to buy them and hold them.

 

[Fred Gunner]

What usually happens with these monsters?

The Cullinan Diamond was the largest gem-quality rough diamond ever found,[2] weighing 3,106.75 carats (621.35 g), discovered at the Premier No.2 mine in Cullinan, South Africa, on 26 January 1905. It was named after Thomas Cullinan, the mine's chairman. In April 1905, it was put on sale in London, but despite considerable interest, it was still unsold after two years. In 1907, the Transvaal Colony government bought the Cullinan and then presented it to Edward VII, King of the United Kingdom, who had it cut by Joseph Asscher & Co. in Amsterdam.

Cullinan produced stones of various cuts and sizes, the largest of which is named Cullinan I or the Great Star of Africa, and at 530.4 carats (106.08 g) it is the largest clear cut diamond in the world. The stone is mounted in the head of the Sovereign's Sceptre with Cross. The second-largest is Cullinan II or the Second Star of Africa, weighing 317.4 carats (63.48 g), mounted in the Imperial State Crown. Both are part of the Crown Jewels. Seven other major diamonds, weighing a total of 208.29 carats (41.66 g), are privately owned by Elizabeth II, who inherited them from her grandmother, Queen Mary, in 1953. The Queen also owns minor brilliants and a set of unpolished fragments.

 

[gillettehunter]

Typically they cut them into the biggest clean stone they can. Often there are 1-2 main stones and several satellite stones cut from really large pieces of rough. The shape of the rough inclusions and the orientation all play a part. Diamonds have "grain" kinda like wood. Polishers always try to polishes into a softer direction rather than a harder direction. I have seen some pieces where one large stone was achieved along with just a few smaller ones. If there is a large crack in a rough then they usually split it there.
All in all the cutters job is to get the most value out of the rough as is possible. Whether that is several stones or one big one can only be determined by the rough.
Bruce

 

[Fred Gunner]

 

[rnovi]

My wife is in the industry. Generally they get broken up and formed into other "smaller" gems. This read is interesting:

World’s largest diamond found | January 25, 1905 | HISTORY

At the Premier Mine in Pretoria, South Africa, the 1.33 pound, 3,106-carat diamond "Cullinan" is discovered during a routine inspection by the mine’s superintendent. It was the largest diamond ever found.

www.history.com

World’s largest diamond found
On January 25, 1905, at the Premier Mine in Pretoria, South Africa, a 3,106-carat diamond is discovered during a routine inspection by the mine’s superintendent. Weighing 1.33 pounds, and christened the “Cullinan,” it was the largest diamond ever found.

Frederick Wells was 18 feet below the earth’s surface when he spotted a flash of starlight embedded in the wall just above him. His discovery was presented that same afternoon to Sir Thomas Cullinan, who owned the mine. Cullinan then sold the diamond to the Transvaal provincial government, which presented the stone to Britain’s King Edward VII as a birthday gift. Worried that the diamond might be stolen in transit from Africa to London, Edward arranged to send a phony diamond aboard a steamer ship loaded with detectives as a diversionary tactic. While the decoy slowly made its way from Africa on the ship, the Cullinan was sent to England in a plain box.

Edward entrusted the cutting of the Cullinan to Joseph Asscher, head of the Asscher Diamond Company of Amsterdam. Asscher, who had cut the famous Excelsior Diamond, a 971-carat diamond found in 1893, studied the stone for six months before attempting the cut. On his first attempt, the steel blade broke, with no effect on the diamond. On the second attempt, the diamond shattered exactly as planned; Asscher then fainted from nervous exhaustion.

The Cullinan was later cut into nine large stones and about 100 smaller ones, valued at millions of dollars all told. The largest stone is called the “Star of Africa I,” or “Cullinan I,” and at 530 carats, it is the largest-cut fine-quality colorless diamond in the world. The second largest stone, the “Star of Africa II” or “Cullinan II,” is 317 carats. Both of these stones, as well as the “Cullinan III,” are on display in the Tower of London with Britain’s other crown jewels; the Cullinan I is mounted in the British Sovereign’s Royal Scepter, while the Cullinan II sits in the Imperial State Crown.