Production at Letšeng mine increases 24% in 2011

At the close of 2011, Gem Diamonds’ Letšeng mine in Lesotho delivered a 57 percent increase in sales to $299 million. The volume of sales rose 22 percent to 107,700 carats. The year turned out to improve production at the mine by 24 percent to 112,367 carats.

While the average price of the good from the mine rose 29 percent to $2,776 per carat at the end of the full year, the fourth quarter results of the average price achieved at Letšeng showed a y-o-y drop from $3,291 per carat in Q4 of 2010 to $2,543 per carat in Q4 of 2011.

In the said fourth quarter, total sales from Letšeng rose slightly, by 2 percent to $82.3 million and in volume terms by 32 percent to 32,353 carats. The sales were highlighted with the 550 carat Letšeng Star being bought for $16.5 million. The company attributes the dip in rough diamond prices in the fourth quarter to ‘the continuing effects of the Eurozone crisis’. Gem Diamonds holds 70 percent stake in the mine and the remainder is held by Lesotho's government.