A 198 carat white diamond sourced from Letšeng mine in Lesotho has been sold for US$ 11m; this is according to London-listed Company, Gem Diamonds.
Gem Diamonds CEO, Clifford Elphick confirmed the reports and pointed out that this is proof that there is a high demand of the product, since it is of high quality. It represented a price for the white type IIa exceptional diamond recovered at the end of July this year.
Letšeng, which was acquired by Gem Diamonds in 2006, is said to be the highest dollar-per-carat kimberlite diamond mine worldwide with its output of large, top-colour, exceptional white diamonds.
The mine has produced four of the top 20 largest white gem-quality recovered diamonds.
Gem Diamonds, which is also developing a mine in Botswana, reported a revenue of US$ 212.8m in 2013.