Letseng Diamond Mine to Reopen Friday

JCI Limited and the Lesotho government will reopen the Letseng diamond mine tomorrow (Friday). The mine is noted for the quality of its diamonds and for its high location - on a plateau at 3,100 meters above sea level – making it the world’s highest diamond mine.

The mine was operated by De Beers between 1977 and 1982 and was closed with less than 20 percent of the open pit ore being treated.

In the past, the mine produced a number of diamonds of about 100 carats, including a 215-carat diamond that was found there a year ago and a 95 carat stone that was found a few days later.

The biggest diamond ever mined at Letseng was the 600 carat Lesotho Brown.

JCI took control of the mine in late 1999.