Lesotho : 195,330 carats of diamonds sold for 13.5 million $

AIM-quoted Firestone Diamonds plc sold for 13.5 million $ a total of 195,330 carats of diamonds from its 75% owned Liqhobong mine during July and September 2017.

The sales occurred in Antwerp, in Belgium, and included a stone sold for over a million $, the company reported on 29 September.
They enabled the achievement of an overall average value of 69 $ per carat which, according to the company, represents a continued lower than expected occurrence of larger, better quality diamonds and a subdued market.

Firestone commenced production in Liqhobong mine in the fourth quarter 2016 and the commercial production in July 2017. Now, it claims the sale of all 505,706 carats of diamonds discovered for 41.3 million $ and an average value of 82$ per carat.

Liqhobong mine is located at the head of the Liqhobong Valley in the Maluti Mountains of northern Lesotho and is 25% owned by the government of Lesotho. The diamond resource at Liqhobong currently extends to approximately 520 m below surface, totaling around 23 million carats at an average grade of 28 carats per hundred tonnes at a 1.25mm bottom cut off (BCO). Importantly, the potential exists to extend the mine life as the diamond resource is open at depth. The deepest vertical hole drilled to date terminated in kimberlite at 650 m below surface.

Firestone Diamonds plc is emerging as one of Africa’s significant new diamond producers, hosting Gem Diamonds’ Letseng Mine, Firestone’s Liqhobong Mine and Namakwa Diamonds’ Kao Mine.