(Bloomberg) -- A small diamond miner that digs the world's most valuable gems from a mountainous African kingdom has never found so many of the giant stones it specializes in.
Gem Diamonds Ltd. said Wednesday it had found a 138-carat top white diamond from its Letseng mine in the landlocked nation of Lesotho in southern Africa. It's the company's 12th find of more than 100 carats this year, surpassing the 11 found in 2015.
The company's seen a return to form after years of smaller hauls. It found just eight 100-carat-plus stones in 2017 and only five the preceding year. This year has also been its best ever for size: the 910-carat Lesotho Legend found in January was the fifth-biggest in history and sold for $40 million at a tender in Antwerp.
Gem Diamonds climbed 2.6 percent as of 9:25 a.m. in London trading, bringing the share's gain this year to 65 percent.
To contact the reporter on this story: Thomas Biesheuvel in London at tbiesheuvel@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Lynn Thomasson at lthomasson@bloomberg.net, Dylan Griffiths, Alex Devine
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