Record 108-ct Pink Diamond Recovered in Lesotho
April 23, 23
(IDEX Online) - Storm Mountain Diamonds (SMD) has recovered the biggest ever pink diamond by far from its Kao mine, in Lesotho.
The 108.39-carat Type IIa fancy intense pink stone (pictured) is more than twice the weight of the 47.81-carat Pink Eternity, which was recovered last year and sold for an undisclosed price.
Mohlomi Moleko, Lesotho's minister of natural resources, described the newly-recovered gem as "one of the most significant diamonds found to date in Lesotho".
The same mine yielded the Pink Dawn (25.97 carat) and Pink Palesa (21.68 carat) in 2021, and the Rose of Kao (29.59 carat) in 2018.
The Kao kimberlite was discovered in 1956 and is the largest in Lesotho and the fourth largest in Southern Africa.
For many years it was mined by artisans and organized cooperatives. It was bought from the Lesotho government in 2006 by Kao Diamond Mines in 2006 and then by current owners SMD (jointly owned by Namakwa Diamonds Limited and the Lesotho Government) in 2010.