Qualla: Letseng Diamond Mine https://qualla.com/letseng-diamond-mine en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:25 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/k/d/u/e/letseng-diamond-mine-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Letseng Diamond Mine https://qualla.com/letseng-diamond-mine Letseng Diamond Mine: Introduction https://qualla.com/letseng-diamond-mine/ Photo credit Lschefa, CC BY-SA 4.0. Most diamond mines chase volume. Letseng chases perfection. Perched in the mountains of Lesotho at an elevation that makes it the highest diamond mine on Earth, Letseng yields fewer than two carats per hundred tons of ore processed, a grade so low that most mining companies would abandon the site. But those rare stones are extraordinary. The mine holds the highest percentage of large diamonds, those exceeding ten carats, of any operation in the world. In the first half of 2007, while the global average hovered around eighty-one dollars per carat, Letseng averaged over nineteen hundred. What it lacks in quantity, it compensates for with gems so large and so pure that they rewrite the record books every few years.

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Image: Lschefa | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Mon, 09 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/k/d/u/e/letseng-diamond-mine-wp/kdue-letseng-diamond-mine-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Letseng Diamond Mine: Mining in the Clouds https://qualla.com/letseng-diamond-mine/ Photo credit Lschefa, CC BY-SA 4.0. Letseng sits at Letseng-la-Terae in the Mokhotlong district of Lesotho, a landlocked kingdom entirely surrounded by South Africa. The elevation places it in an alpine tundra climate, a classification unusual for anywhere in Africa. Winter temperatures plunge to minus twenty degre...

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Image: Lschefa | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Mon, 09 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/k/d/u/e/letseng-diamond-mine-wp/kdue-letseng-diamond-mine-mining-in-the-clouds.mp3 0:06 2 full Letseng Diamond Mine: A Catalogue of Giants https://qualla.com/letseng-diamond-mine/ Photo credit Lschefa, CC BY-SA 4.0. Letseng's record reads like an auction catalog for a museum of superlatives. The Lesotho Brown, a 601-carat stone, was recovered in 1967 and held the mine's size record for decades. In 2004, the 123-carat Star of Lesotho emerged. Then came the 603-carat Lesotho Promise on 4 Octob...

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]]> Mon, 09 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/k/d/u/e/letseng-diamond-mine-wp/kdue-letseng-diamond-mine-a-catalogue-of-giants.mp3 0:06 3 full Letseng Diamond Mine: The Paradox of Low Grade https://qualla.com/letseng-diamond-mine/ Photo credit Lschefa, CC BY-SA 4.0. What makes Letseng economically viable despite its vanishingly low ore grade is a geological quirk. The kimberlite pipes beneath the mine apparently preserve diamonds with minimal breakage during their violent journey from the upper mantle to the surface. Elsewhere, the explosive...

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Image: Lschefa | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Mon, 09 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/k/d/u/e/letseng-diamond-mine-wp/kdue-letseng-diamond-mine-the-paradox-of-low-grade.mp3 0:06 4 full Letseng Diamond Mine: A Kingdom Built on Kimberlite https://qualla.com/letseng-diamond-mine/ Photo credit Lschefa, CC BY-SA 4.0. Lesotho is one of the smallest and poorest countries in Africa, a mountainous enclave with few natural resources beyond its water and its diamonds. Letseng is the crown jewel of Lesotho's mining sector, and the government's ownership stake ensures that the mine's extraordinary pe...

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]]> Mon, 09 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/k/d/u/e/letseng-diamond-mine-wp/kdue-letseng-diamond-mine-a-kingdom-built-on-kimberlite.mp3 0:06 5 full