14th Mar 2018 10:02
Gem swung to a pretax profit on a statutory basis of
Before exceptional items, pretax profit in 2017 fell to
Gem recovered 111,811 carats in diamonds in 2017 compared to 108,206 in 2016. Waste tonnes mined was 29.7 million from 29.8 million, and the average value per carat rose to
It found seven diamonds in excess of 100 carats during 2017, compared to five in 2016. Gem also announced Wednesday it has already found its seventh 100-carat-plus diamond in 2018.
Gem has recovered a 169 carat top white colour type IIa diamond from Letseng. On Tuesday, Gem announced it had sold the 910 carat 'Lesotho Legend' rock, the fifth biggest ever discovered, for
The company is not paying a dividend for 2017, having scrapped it in 2016 after pretax profit fell to less than a third of 2015's total due to a lack of large diamond discoveries and lower diamond prices.
Gem said it remains to committed to returning cash to shareholders, but will only do so when company finances allow it to.
It placed its Ghaghoo diamond mine in
Looking ahead, Gem said it is optimistic for the future after the improved recovery of large diamonds so far in 2018 as well as firm demand.
Chief Executive Clifford Elphick said: "The second half of 2017 saw the company begin to benefit from the operational improvements implemented during the year, with a significant improvement in the recovery of the large diamonds from Letseng. The market for the mine's large, high quality white rough diamonds remained strong over the course of 2017, a trend which has continued into early 2018.
"The focus on enhancing the efficiency of our operations identified a potential of
Shares were up 4.3% on Wednesday at a price of
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