The Lighobong mine is one of the largest

diamond Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the Chemical stability, chemically stable form of car ...

mines in

Lesotho Lesotho ( ), officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a country landlocked country, landlocked as an Enclave and exclave, enclave in South Africa. It is situated in the Maloti Mountains and contains the Thabana Ntlenyana, highest mountains in Sou ...

and in the world. The mine is located in the northern part of the country near the

Maloti Mountains The Maloti Mountains are a mountain range of the highlands of the Kingdom of Lesotho. They extend for about 100 km into the South African Free State. The Maloti Range is part of the Drakensberg system that includes ranges across large areas ...

. The mine has estimated reserves of 19 million carats of

diamonds Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, b ...

and an annual production capacity of 1 million carats. The mine in Lesotho is Firestone Diamonds’s principal asset, and was acquired as a result of the acquisition of Kopane Diamond Developments plc for $71 million in July 2010. It is operated by Liqhobong Mining Development Company (Proprietary) Limited (‘LMDC’), which is 75% owned by Firestone Diamonds and 25% owned by the government of Lesotho.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lighobong Mine Diamond mines in Lesotho