13th Sep 2007 07:02
Gem Diamonds Limited13 September 2007 13TH September, 2007 GEM DIAMONDS LIMITED ("Gem Diamonds" or the "Company") RECOVERY OF 494 CARAT WHITE DIAMOND Gem Diamonds Limited (LSE: GEMD) ("Gem Diamonds") is delighted to announce therecovery of a 494 carat diamond from its Letseng Mine in Lesotho. Thisremarkable diamond, which is yet to be named, is believed to rank as the 18thlargest rough diamond. The diamond is an excellent colour and has high clarity. The Letseng mine which is 70% owned by Gem Diamonds and 30% owned by theGovernment of the Kingdom of Lesotho has now produced three of the world's toptwenty diamonds. Two of these have been recovered by Gem Diamonds in the last13 months - the 603 carat Lesotho Promise recovered in August 2006 and the 494carat diamond announced today. The Lesotho Promise, which was sold on tender inOctober 2006 for US$12.4 million, is the 15th largest rough diamond and theLesotho Brown diamond recovered in 1961 the 16th. Letseng Diamonds alsoproduced a 215 carat D-colour flawless diamond in January 2007, whichsubsequently sold on tender for US$8.3 million. The Letseng Mine hosts two kimberlites; the Main and Satellite Pipes that have acombined diamond resource value of US$4.7 billion. It is renowned for producingsome of the world's largest diamonds which attract the highest average price percarat of any kimberlite mine. As reported in Gem Diamonds' Interim Results toend June 2007 released today, the average price per carat achieved from the Letseng Satellite Pipe was US$1 894 from and US$1 128 from Main Pipe. This compareswith the world average price of approximately US$81 per carat. Gem Diamonds' CEO Clifford Elphick commented: "We are delighted to have recovered two of the world's largest diamonds ever inthe last thirteen months. This diamond is another remarkable find for the Letseng Mine, barely a year after the recovery of the Lesotho Promise and confirmsthe Letseng Mine's reputation as the leading producer of large gem qualitydiamonds." Gem Diamonds LimitedClifford ElphickTel: +44 203 043 0280 Gem Diamond Technical Services (Pty) LimitedAngela ParrTel: +27 83 578 3885 Pelham PRCandice SgroiTel: +44 207 743 6376 About Gem Diamonds Gem Diamonds is a diamond mining company with a balanced portfolio of aproducing kimberlite mine, two producing alluvial mines, development projectsand long-term prospects. Established in July 2005, Gem Diamonds is pursuing anaccelerated growth strategy and aims to become one of the world's leadingdiamond companies. Gem Diamonds currently has one producing kimberlite mine, Letseng, in Lesotho, two producing alluvial mines - Cempaka in Indonesia andMbelenge in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a kimberlite developmentproject in Botswana, two development projects in the DRC, one in the CentralAfrican Republic and an option to develop the Chiri kimberlite concession inAngola. The Company recently made an offer to Kimberley Diamond Company's shareholdersto acquire their shares in this company, which owns the Ellendale Mine in northwestern Australia. Gem Diamonds has a specific focus towards higher value diamonds, a segment ofthe market that its management believes will deliver superior long term returns. In February 2007, Gem Diamonds listed on the London Stock Exchange and raisedUS$600 million (net of expenses) to fund development of its existing assets aswell as to pursue acquisitive growth opportunities. Gem Diamonds trades underthe code GEMD. At the time of this announcement the market capitalisation of thecompany is approximately US$1,2 billion. For further information about Gem Diamonds visit www.gemdiamonds.com. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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