Gem Diamonds is a British-based global diamond mining business. It is headquartered in London and is listed on the London Stock Exchange. In 2017, the company generated a profit of $20.8 million.
History
The business was founded by Clifford Elphick in July 2005. The company acquired Letšeng diamond mine in 2006, and has since found five of the 20 largest known white gem quality diamonds, elevating the mine to the highest dollar-per-carat kimberlitediamond operation in the world. The company was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2007. In 2007, the company began diamond prospecting on traditional Bushmen lands in Botswana. Survival International alleged that the company had not carried out sufficient consultation with the Bushmen, many of whom have been forced from their homes. Construction of the first phase of a mine, Ghaghoo, located 45 km within the Eastern border of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve began in 2011. It is a controversial matter as the government of Botswana has allowed for mining exploration and construction within a game reserve originally intended for the Bushmen and the wildlife they subsist on. While one cannot directly prove the government's intentions, a year before this exploration began the government started the forced removal of the Bushmen from their lands.
Significant gem discoveries
In 2006, the company announced that it had found a diamond of at the Letseng diamond mine in Lesotho, which became known as the Lesotho Promise. In January 2018, a larger stone was discovered at Letseng, measuring — the fifth-largest gem-quality diamond ever found. Named the Lesotho Legend, the gem sold in Antwerp, Belgium to Samir Gems on 12 March 2018 for $40 million. In March2018, the company announced recovery of its seventh diamond over 100 carats at Letseng during the first quarter of 2018, a "top white colour Type IIa diamond," measured at. Several of Gem Diamond's significant finds in Lesotho have been purchased by Graff Diamonds.
