Lonrho Mining Recovers 61ct fancy Yellow at Schmidtsdrift Mine

Lonrho Mining has recovered a 61.3 carat fancy yellow diamond at its Schmidtsdrift Mine in South Africa, the company said Thursday (May 15.)

"This diamond is of extremely high quality and is expected to achieve a very high value,” Charles Mostert, chief executive officer of Lonrho Mining, said of the octahedron shape stone. “We are confident that the recently completed operational review at the Schmidtsdrift mine will continue to have a positive effect and hopefully yield further diamonds of this quality."

Lonrho Mining, formerly known as Nare Diamonds, owns 80 percent of the Schmidtsdrift mine with the Schmidtsdrift Communal Property Association owning the remainder.

The mine has recovered 16,395 carats of diamonds in the two years since operations commenced in April 2006. Production included 328 stones larger than 5 carats, including a rare 235 carat stone, two 66 carat stones and 25 stones between 15 and 50 carats.

Schmidtsdrift comprises six contiguous farms along the western bank of the Vaal River, with a combined area of 320 square kilometers.