Gem sales make its shares sparkle

Gem Diamonds has sold two ex–ceptional stones extracted from the highest diamond mine in the world, sending its shares up 2.5p to 153.5p.

Top of the sparklers from the Letseng mine in Lesotho was a rare, 12.47-carat blue diamond. Blue is among the most sought after of the so-called fancies, or coloured diamonds. It fetched a record-breaking price for that mine of $7.5m (£4.7m) at an auction in Antwerp, or a staggering $603,000 per carat. By contrast, a much larger 82-carat exceptional-quality white diamond, from the same mine, sold for $4.8m, equivalent to $59,000 a carat.

Although Gem did not identify the buyers it is likely they went to the jewellery trade, where they will be cut. It is likely to be several months before the world’s top diamond experts decide which is the best cut.