High-Value Stones Boost Gem Diamonds' Revenue

(IDEX Online) - Gem Diamonds reported higher revenue for Q1 2026, driven by large, high‑value recoveries, even though the total volume of rough sold was lower than usual.

The company reported total revenue of $32.1 million for the quarter, which includes an exceptional parcel of 10 large diamonds (363 carats) that generated $7.0 million.

To avoid distorting its core run‑of‑mine price per carat and quarter‑on‑quarter comparisons, the London-based miner excluded that parcel from its key sales metric.
On that underlying basis, the "core" revenue for the quarter was $25.1 million, up 16% year‑on‑year from $21.6 million in Q1 2025.

Average realized price for production at its Letseng mine, in Lesotho, was $1,501 per carat, up 17% on the previous quarter and materially higher than the prior year; Letseng remains the world's highest dollar‑per‑carat kimberlite mine.

During the quarter, Gem recovered a 191.82‑carat Type IIa white diamond and a 100.71‑carat faint yellow diamond, with the latter expected to be sold in Q2. The highest price achieved was $32,908 per carat for a 52.24‑carat white diamond, and four stones sold for more than $1.0 million each, generating a combined $9.9 million.

Gem Diamonds reported an annual loss before exceptional items of $9.1 million in 2025, compared with a pre‑exceptional profit of $8.1 million in 2024, and has scaled back operations amid the natural‑diamond downturn.

The company cut a fifth of its workforce and reduced executive pay under a business resilience program launched in H2 2025.