- Address: Mokotlong, Lesotho;
- Official page: letsengdiamonds.co.ls;
- Phone: +266 2222 1000.
Located in Lesotho , at an altitude of more than three kilometers, the Letseng diamond mine is rightfully considered to be not only the most high-mountainous mine in the world, but also one of the most "fertile" mines - here one constantly mines large gems that amaze with their size, purity and color.
There is a mine near the small town of Mokotlong . The mine has been working for a long time, but it has been idle for a while. So, it was closed for several years, after which in 2004 it was decided to resume diamond mining.
Two years later, the owner of the mine was Gem Diamond Corporation, which activated the extraction of jewelry - thanks to a special approach to work, the mine became the main diamond mining site in Lesotho.
Place of huge diamonds
Letseng periodically makes happy with huge stones. Note that in recent years, 20 huge diamonds were mined all over the world - and four of them were found in the Lesotho mine.
For example, in the summer of 2006 a diamond with a weight of 603 carats was found here, named "Hope Lesotho". The stone was sold for an amount of almost $ 12.5 million.
A year later, in September 2007, another large diamond was found on the mine, its weight was almost 500 carats. The stone, named "Legacy of Letsseng," was sold for almost $ 10.5 million.
Even after 12 months, the September day of 2008, the mine presented a diamond of 478 carats - a first-class, unusually clean stone. What affected its name - the diamond was named "Light Letseng", and its value was almost 18.5 million dollars.
In August 2011 the mine was pleased with another 550-carat large stone and named "Letseng Star". By this name the owners of the mine wanted to emphasize that the mine is a real constellation of beautiful, cleanest huge stones. At that time, the diamond "Star Letsenga" became:
- The second largest among all the found white diamonds in the mine;
- the fourteenth in the world in size among all the rough stones ever found.
By the way, the stone was cleaned in one of the laboratories in Belgium by means of a special acid, which removed a variety of impurities, including kimberlite, accumulated on the surface of the stone, without affecting the diamond itself.
And one can not but mention another white stone found in August 2006 (by the way, they noticed an interesting regularity - all the big diamonds in the Letseng mine were found in August or September?). Its weight was only 196 karat (compared to the stones described above), but it became the largest gemstone mined in the world in 2006. In addition, he struck his characteristics:
- cleanliness;
- depth of color.
Stock assessment
It is noteworthy, but despite the already long term of diamond mining in the Letseng mine, the estimation of the reserves of the mine is only increasing. So, if the preliminary figure was 1.38 million carats, then later the forecast increased by more than 50% - to 2.26 million carats. The forecast of the volume of rock containing diamonds is also increased.
How to get there?
First you need to fly to the capital of Lesotho in Maseru - a flight from Moscow will take more than 16 hours. We will have to make two transplants - one of them in Europe (Istanbul, London, Paris or Frankfurt am Main - depending on the chosen flight), the second one in Johannesburg.
Next, you need to get to Mokotlonga. By the way, in this seven-thousandth town there is an airport. Therefore, it is possible to have another flight. From Mokotlong to the mine - 70 kilometers. They will have to be overcome by road.
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