Storm Mountain Diamonds (SMD) discovered a 108.39-carat pink diamond from its Kao mine in Lesotho recently.
The stone is a fancy intense pink, type IIa diamond. It is one of the largest pink diamonds ever unearthed, according to the company which is a joint venture between Namakwa Diamonds and the Lesotho government.
The diamond is more than twice the weight of the 47.81-carat Pink Eternity diamond the miner found in 2022 and sold for an undisclosed price. Pink Eternity was Kao mine’s biggest diamond of the same colour before this new discovery.
Mohlomi Moleko, Lesotho's minister of natural resources, described the newly-recovered diamond as "one of the most significant diamonds found to date in Lesotho”.The same mine has also yielded other high-value pink diamonds including the Pink Dawn (25.97 carats) and the Pink Palesa (21.68 carats) in 2021, and the Rose of Kao (29.59 carats) in 2018.
The Kao mine was discovered in 1956 and is the largest in Lesotho and the fourth largest in Southern Africa. It has a reputation for consistently producing large pink diamonds. The latest find reaffirms Kao mine’s status as one of the most important producers of exceptional pink diamonds.
For many years it was mined by artisans and organised cooperatives. It was bought from the Lesotho government in 2006 by Kao Diamond Mines in 2006 and then by current owners SMD in 2010. With approximately 18 years of operation remaining, the mine is expected to provide an additional 12.7 million carats of rough over that time.
25-04-2023
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