Two diamonds larger than 100 carats each found in Lesotho mine

London - Gem Diamonds has discovered two huge diamonds, each bigger than 100 carats, at its Lesotho mine.

It unearthed the 117 carat and 110 carat D color Type IIa diamonds at the Letseng mine, Gem Diamonds said in a statement on Monday. Type IIa diamonds contain very little or no nitrogen atoms and are the most expensive stones.

The company’s stock rose as much as 8.2% in London trading.

It’s a good start to the year following Gem’s discovery of at least seven stones bigger than 100 carats in 2017 and five the year before. It recovered a dozen diamonds bigger than 100 carats in 2015.

Still, recent finds don’t compare with the largest at Letseng, renowned for the quality and size of its stones. Gem sold a 357-carat stone for $19.3m in 2015 and in 2006 found the 603-carat Lesotho Promise.

Lucapa Diamond Company also had a good new year, announcing on Monday that it had discovered 103 carat and 83 carat diamonds at its operations in Angola. The company’s biggest-ever find was a 404 carat stone that sold for $16m in 2016.