The Letšeng Diamond Mine, found in the

landlocked A landlocked country is a country that does not have territory connected to an ocean or whose coastlines lie on endorheic basins. There are currently 44 landlocked countries and 4 landlocked de facto states. Kazakhstan is the world's largest ...

Southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost subregion of the African continent, south of the Congo and Tanzania. The physical location is the large part of Africa to the south of the extensive Congo River basin. Southern Africa is home to a number o ...

n kingdom of

Lesotho Lesotho ( ), officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a country landlocked as an enclave in South Africa. It is situated in the Maloti Mountains and contains the highest mountains in Southern Africa. It has an area of over and has a population ...

, is owned by Gem Diamonds, Ltd. and the government of Lesotho, and at an elevation of 3,100 m (10,000 ft) it is the world's highest diamond mine.

Production

It is characterised by extremely low grade ore (less than /hundred tons) and is known for producing huge

diamond 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 ...

s, having the highest percentage of large diamonds (greater than ), giving it the highest dollar value per carat of any diamond mine. The world average is roughly US$81 per carat, while Letšeng averaged over US$1,894 per carat for the first six months of 2007. Unusual for Africa, and due to the elevation, temperatures at the mine drop to -20 °C, and snowfalls are common in winter.

Geography

Climate

Letšeng has an alpine

tundra climate The tundra climate is a polar climate sub-type located in high latitudes and high mountains. undra climate https://www.britannica.com/science/tundra-climateThe Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2019 It is classified as ET according to Köppen ...

(''ET'', according to the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...

). This means that Letšeng has a chilly climate with fairly cool temperatures throughout the year, even for

, and

snow Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water throughou ...

falls can happen as well. The average annual temperature is , the average annual high temperature is and the average annual low temperature is . The warmest month, January, has an average temperature of and an average high temperature of . The coldest month, June, has an average temperature of and an average low temperature of . June is the only month with an average temperature below freezing, although the average temperature of July is exactly . Letšeng has an average annual precipitation of . However, like most of Lesotho and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

, this is not evenly distributed throughout the year. Letšeng has a wet season with abundant rainfall from October to March and a dry season with less precipitation from May to August - the coldest time of year. In terms of precipitation April and October serve as transitions between the wet and dry seasons. January is the wettest month, receiving of precipitation on average, while July is the driest month, receiving only of precipitation on average.

Significant diamond finds

Lesotho Promise

On 4 October 2006 the 603 carat (121 g) white diamond, the Lesotho Promise was unearthed, which until the January 2018 discovery noted below was the largest reported find this century; at the time it was found it was the 15th largest diamond ever found. The stone is of an exceptional colour, rated D, the top colour for diamonds.

Lesotho Brown

Previously the largest diamond found at Letšeng was the 601 carat (120 g) Lesotho Brown, recovered in 1967.

Letšeng Legacy

On 13 September 2007 Gem Diamonds, Ltd. announced that it had found a diamond, making it the 18th largest diamond ever found. It was sold to the Graff-SAFDICO partnership for $10.4 million.

Star of Lesotho

In 2004, Gem Diamonds, Ltd. found a large diamond of .

Leseli La Letšeng

On 21 September 2008 Gem Diamonds, Ltd. announced that it found a diamond of high quality, making it the 20th largest diamond ever found. It is a type II D colour, with potential to yield a cut stone. Chief executive Clifford Elphick said: "Preliminary examination of this remarkable diamond indicates it will yield a record-breaking polished stone of the very best colour and clarity, and has no inclusions visible in its rough form."

November 2010

The discovery of two large rough white diamonds was announced in November 2010. They weighed 196ct and 184ct. LETSOTHO LEGEND

Lesotho Legend

In January 2018 Gem Diamonds announced the largest diamond yet discovered at Letšeng, a Type IIa D color stone measured at 910 carats. It sold in March 2018 for $40 million. The same year a light brown diamond of 357.61 carats was discovered.

Letšeng Star

In August 2011 a diamond of 550 carats was found.

Letšeng Dynasty and Letseng Destiny

In May and July 2015, the discovery of two large diamonds was announced : the Letšeng Destiny of 314 carats and the Letšeng dynasty of 357 carats.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Letšeng Diamond Mine Diamond mines in Lesotho Economy of Lesotho