Origin of name
The Lets'eng Legacy diamond, which is said to be the 18th
largest gem-quality rough diamond to be discovered in the world, was
recovered from the Lets'eng le Terai Mine in Lesotho, on September 7, 2007.
The name "Lets'eng Legacy" seem to reflect the growing legacy the Lets'eng le
Terai Mine is creating as the world's leading producer of remarkable
diamonds today. The mine has produced three of the world's top 20 rough
diamonds, out of which two of them were produced within the last 13 months-the 603-carat Lesotho Promise diamond in August 2006 and the 493-carat Lets'eng Legacy diamond in September 2007.
Characteristics of the
diamond
The Lets'eng Legacy is a D-color rough diamond, weighing
493 carats, discovered in the Lets'eng diamond mine just two months ago, on
September 7, 2007. Gem Diamonds Limited, which co-owns the mine with the
Government of Lesotho, has said that the diamond has excellent color and
clarity. We have included an account of this remarkable diamond,
to keep our readers abreast of the recent developments in the international
diamond industry, in spite of the fact that the rough diamond has not yet
been cut and processed. At the time of writing, the rough diamond has been
purchased by SAFDICO, the South African Diamond Corporation, a subsidiary of
the London-based Graff Diamonds, the same company that purchased the Lesotho
Promise diamond in October 2006. The account of this diamond will be updated
as more information on the processing of the diamond are released.
In the list of largest gem-quality rough diamonds
discovered in the world the Lets'eng Legacy occupies the 19th position, but
if we omit the De Grisogono black diamond, it becomes the 18th largest rough
diamond in the world. The Lesotho Promise and the Lesotho Brown occupy the
15th and 16th positions on this table.
List of largest
gem-quality rough diamonds discovered in the world
|
Name |
Country of discovery |
Year of discovery |
Carat Weight |
Position |
|
Cullinan |
South Africa |
1905 |
3,106 |
1 |
|
Excelsior |
South Africa |
1893 |
995 |
2 |
|
Star of Sierra Leone |
Sierra Leone |
1972 |
969.80 |
3 |
|
Incomparable |
Zaire |
1984 |
890 |
4 |
|
Great Mogul |
India |
1650 |
787 |
5 |
|
Millennium Star |
Zaire |
1990 |
777 |
6 |
|
Woyie River |
Sierra Leone |
1945 |
770 |
7 |
|
Golden Jubilee |
South Africa |
1985 |
755 |
8 |
|
President Vargas |
Brazil |
1938 |
726.60 |
9 |
|
Jonker |
South Africa |
1934 |
726 |
10 |
|
Jubilee-Reitz |
South Africa |
1895 |
650.80 |
11 |
|
Unnamed |
South Africa |
1984 |
620.14 |
12 |
|
Sefadu |
Sierra Leone |
1970 |
620 |
13 |
|
Kimberley Octahedral |
South Africa |
|
616 |
14 |
|
Lesotho Promise |
Lesotho |
2006 |
603 |
15 |
|
Lesotho Brown |
Lesotho |
1967 |
601 |
16 |
|
Centenary |
South Africa |
1986 |
599 |
17 |
|
De Grisogono |
Central Africa |
|
587 |
18 |
|
Lesotho Legacy |
Lesotho |
2007 |
493 |
19 |
|
Jacob-Victoria |
South Africa |
1884 |
457.50 |
20 |
|
Zale light of peace |
Sierra Leone |
1969 |
435 |
21 |
|
De Beers |
South Africa |
1888 |
428.50 |
22 |
|
Niarchos |
South Africa |
1954 |
426.50 |
23 |
The diamond being D-color is undoubtedly a Type IIa
diamond, which are said to be chemically pure and structurally perfect
diamonds. In the absence of factors that can cause color in diamonds, these
diamonds are absolutely colorless.
History of the Letseng
Diamond Mine
The Kingdom of Lesotho is a tiny, mountainous,
landlocked, and independent country, situated almost in the center of the
South African Republic. The country is surrounded by the three provinces of
the Republic of South Africa, Orange Free State, Kwa Zulu Natal, and Eastern
Cape. The area of the country is only 11,720 sq. miles (30,355 sq. km.).
Being a country with limited resources, Lesotho, also known as Basutoland,
is economically dependent on South Africa, apart from its dependence
on South Africa for access to the outside world.
Among the country's limited mineral resources are uranium
deposits in the area about 30 miles northeast of Maseru, the capital city,
and the Kimberlite pipes in the highlands. The first Kimberlite mine that
was opened for exploration by De Beers was the Lets'eng le Terai mine, in
Mokhotiong, which operated for about five years from 1977 to 1982, but was
later abandoned, due to a slump in world diamond prices. The mine was again
re-opened in 2004 as a joint venture between the Government of Lesotho and
the South African based Gem Diamonds Limited, known as the Lets'eng Diamond
Company, which owned shares in the ratio of 30 % : 70% respectively. Gem
Diamonds Ltd, is headed by Clifford Elphick, a former adviser to the
Oppenheimer Family, who also had a 40 % stake in the diamond giant De Beers. The Lets'eng diamond mine situated in the Maluti Mountains of Mokhotiong at
an elevation of 3,100 meters above sea level, is the highest diamond mine in
the world.
Highest dollar-per-carat
ratio for any diamond mine in the world
The Lets'eng hosts two Kimberltes, the main
Kimberlite pipe and satellite Kimberlite pipes, whose combined diamond
resource value is said to be $ 4.7 billion. The Lets'eng diamond mine
although expensive to operate with a low yield of only 2 carats per hundred
tons of Kimberlite, is renowned for its high percentage of large diamonds
over 10 carats in weight. Thus the disadvantage of low yield is more than
compensated by the advantage of larger size of the diamonds, and the Lets'eng
diamond mine has the highest dollar-per-carat ratio of any diamond mine in
the world. According to Gem Diamonds Ltd. interim results ending June 2007,
the average price per carat achieved from the Lets'eng Satellite Pipe was $
1894, and the Main pipe $ 1,128. The world average price is approximately $
81 per carat.
Produced the first and
second largest diamonds ever discovered by women in the world
The 493-carat Lets'eng Legacy diamond was discovered on
September 7, 2007, in the Lets'eng diamond mine, probably during routine
recovery operations in the mine. In contrast the 603-carat Lesotho Promise
diamond, the largest diamond ever discovered in the mine, was discovered
accidentally in August 2006, by a woman employee of the company, who was
just sorting through the gravel already screened and dumped at the site.
Thus the 603-carat Lesotho Promise diamond became the largest diamond ever
discovered by a woman. Almost by a strange coincidence the previous record
for the largest diamond discovered by a woman, was held by the 601-carat
Lesotho brown diamond, also discovered accidentally in the site of the same
Lets'eng mine in 1967, before the excavation of the Kimberlite pipe by De
beers. Thus the Lets'eng diamond mine has earned the rare distinction of
producing the first and second largest diamonds ever discovered by women in
the world.
A consistent source of
high quality large diamonds
The Lets'eng diamond mine has produced three of the
20 largest diamonds in the world. They are the 15th largest diamond, the
603-carat "Lesotho Promise", the 16th largest diamond the 601-carat "Lesotho
Brown", and the 18th largest diamond the "Lesotho legacy."
See table above. Two of these
diamonds, the Lesotho promise (2006) and the Lesotho Legacy (2007) were
produced since the re-opening of the mine in 2004. Besides these two
diamonds other large diamonds have also been produced by the Lets'eng diamond
mines. In January 2005, four large high quality diamonds were produced
within a period of six days weighing a total of 366 carats and was sold for
$ 8 million. The individual weights of the four diamonds are 76 carats, 112
carats, 106 carats and 72 carats, in the order in which they were
discovered. In January 2007, a 215-carat D-color, flawless diamond was
discovered, that sold for $ 8.3 million. The 603-carat Lesotho Promise
diamond was sold by tender in October 2006, for a sum of $ 12.4 million, and
was purchased by SAFDICO, a subsidiary of the London based Graff Diamonds.
In the financial year 2006/2007, Lets'eng diamond mines
produced 59,809 carats of diamonds, which sold for $ 107.15 million. This
works out to an average price-per-carat of $ 1791.
The Lets'eng diamond mine has thus become the world's
most consistent source of high quality large diamonds within three years of
its re-opening. The success story of the Lets'eng diamond mine has attracted
several diamond prospecting companies from around the world to invest
in the diamond mining industry of Lesotho. These companies have negotiated
attractive deals with the government for the opening up of other Kimberlite
pipes in the country. Apart from the Lets'eng diamond mines four other new
diamond mines have been opened. They are Kao, Liqhobong, Lemphane, and Kolo
mines.
Even the Lets'eng Diamond Company hopes to expand their production by
investing on a second processing plant that would hopefully boost production
from an average of 50,000 carats per year to 100,000 carats per year.
Sale of the Lets'eng
legacy by tender
The "Lets'eng Legacy" diamond was sold by secret
tender-the same procedure adopted previously for the Lesotho Promise
diamond- by WWW International Diamond Consultants at a ceremony and press
conference hosted by the Antwerp World Diamond Center, on November 14, 2007.
The sale was attended by the Minister of Natural Resources of Lesotho, Mr.
Monyane Moleleki and the directors of Gem Diamonds Ltd. Leading players in
the diamond industry took part in the sale, and the winning bid came again
from SAFDICO, the manufacturing arm of Graff Jewelers, London, who also
purchased the "Lesotho Promise" diamond. It is reported that, there were
also strong bids from Rosy Blue, and Premier Diamonds. The "Lets'eng Legacy"
diamond was sold for $ 10.4 million.
It is hoped that the benefits of this expanded diamond
mining activity would eventually trickle down to the poor masses of this
tiny impoverished nation, that would see a real improvement in their living
standards.
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