Miner ends large gem drought with 114-carat find

Gem Diamonds said it unearthed a 114-carat diamond at its Lesotho mine in southern Africa, helping to ease concerns about a dearth of large finds.

The stone is a D colour, Type-II diamond of exceptional quality, Gem Diamonds said in a statement Friday. It was the second Lesotho diamond discovery bigger than 100 carats announced this week, after a rival miner said Wednesday it had unearthed its first stone of that size.

The company’s Letseng mine is renowned for the size and quality of its stones with its diamonds selling at an average price of almost $2,000 a carat, the highest in