The discovery of a rare, small type 2B blue diamond along with an additional 28 type 2A diamonds seems to bode well for the Firestone Diamonds flagship mine in Lesotho. The discovery of the 2A and 2B diamonds are significant because about 98% of the world’s production of diamonds are considered to be type 1A diamonds. That means less than 2 percent of known kimberlite resources produce these rare, white and colorless diamonds. Kimberlite is a type of volcanic rock that can sometimes contain diamonds.
Although small, the stones give an indication as to the diversity potential of the mine. That has Firestone and its investors rubbing their hands together. Firestone started production at its pilot plant in June of 2011 and it has since recovered vivid and yellow fancy diamonds, a pair of pink diamonds, and some high quality white diamonds. This variety, especially in rare diamonds is particularly exciting for the company.
It was just in September that Firestone reported the recovery of a 27 carat fragmented stone. When it was reconstructed, it gives indications of perhaps being from a stone in excess of 200 carats. While a big stone, Firestone has even some bigger plans. They hope to expand on its current production of 200,000 carats per year through their existing pilot plant to over 1 million carats per year by 2015 through an expanded plant.
As a continent, Africa is a significant producer of the world’s diamonds. South Africa is one of the world’s top 5 diamond producing countries. This particular mine is located in Lesotho, a country located in southern Africa that is completely surrounded by the nation of South Africa.
Raymond Z for Raymond Lee Jewelers, South Florida’s premiere source for buying and selling luxury watches and designer jewelry.
