Gem Diamonds sells 12.47-carat blue diamond

In its recently concluded sale on tender, Gem Diamonds Limited sold two ‘exceptional’ rough diamonds that it recovered in September, reports suggest. One was a 12.47-carat blue diamond recovered from its Letseng mine that sold for $7.52 million or $603,047 per carat – a record price for the mine, while the second was an 82-carat diamond it describes to be of ‘exceptional quality’ for $59,173 per carat, or $4.8 million. Gem Diamonds CEO, Clifford Elphick stated: "Letšeng continues to achieve such outstanding prices for its exceptional diamonds and we continue to expect recovery of such high quality diamonds as mining at Letšeng continues to focus more on the higher grade, higher value Satellite pipe towards the end of 2013 and into 2014."