“The exceptional quality 910 carat D colour Type IIa diamond recovered from the Letšeng mine in January 2018 achieved a price of US$40 million on tender in Antwerp on 12 March, 2018. It is the fifth largest gem-quality diamond ever recovered in history and the third largest in a century. The $40,000 price tag equates to $43,956 per carat, falling just short of the $47,777 per carat earned from Lucara Diamonds’ sale of the 1,109 carat Lesedi La Rona, which sold for $53 million in September 2017, and far off the pace of the most expensive rough diamond ever sold – the 813 carat Constellation diamond, also recovered by Lucara, which earned $63.1 million in 2016, or $77,614 per carat. Gem Diamonds sold the Lesotho Promise, a 603-carat rough diamond, for $12.36 million, or $20,498 per carat, in 2006.” reports Diamondloupe.
