493-Carat Diamond Named “Letseng Legacy”

The world’s 18th largest diamond, weighing 493 carats, was discovered in at the Letseng-la-Terai Mine in the Kingdom of Lesotho on September 7.  Letseng Diamonds recently named the diamond “Letseng Legacy.”  The Letseng Diamonds Company is 70% owned by mining company Gem Diamonds and 30% owned by the government of Lesotho.

The Letseng Mine is famous for its large diamond discoveries and has now produced three of the world’s top 20 diamonds, most recently the 603-carat Lesotho Promise in August 2006 and now the 493-carat Letseng Legacy in September 2007.  Production at the mine this year has price per carats yields of about 15 times higher than world average diamond prices, which reflects the larger size and higher quality of the stone recovered.  The Letseng-la-Terai Mine also has the distinction as being the highest diamond mine in the world, located over 10,000 feet above sea level.

The Letseng Legacy will be sold on tender in Antwerp on November 14.  The Lesotho Promise was sold at a similar tender in October 2006 for $12.4 million to Graff Jewelers, who then produced a collection of polished stones valued as high as $30 million.  The Lesotho Brown, a 601-carat, discovered in 1961 and the 16th largest stone, was cut into 18 finished diamonds by Harry Winston jewelers who recently re-acquired the largest stone.  While not a top twenty stone in terms of size, Letseng Diamonds also produced a 215-carat D-color flawless diamond in January 2007, which sold for $8.3 million.