Visit of the Letšeng diamond mine in Lesotho

In November 2025, Dr. Michael S. Krzemnicki and Dr. Michael Mintrone, Head of the Diamond Department at SSEF, were invited to visit the Letšeng diamond mine in Lesotho as part of a collaboration project.

The Letšeng diamond mine is known for its large diamonds of exceptional quality and is the highest diamond mine (at 3200 m altitude) in the world. Located in a remote part of the highlands of Lesotho, already the access to the mine is adventurous along a steep and winding road passing by the nearby AfriSki ski resort, which is the only one on the African continent.

During our stay at the diamond mine, we were impressed to get privileged access not only to the deep open mining pipes and to kimberlite samples, but also to the high-density mineral sorting unit and the high-security diamond recovery unit. Luckily, we were able to see some of the outstanding diamonds recovered in the past two months at the Letšeng mine. The tour was concluded with a visit to a primary school in a nearby village and a poultry station, two of the many local projects supported by Letšeng diamonds.