Diamonds may be a girl’s best friend, but they don’t seem to be a good friend to investors if the share price of Lesotho mine-owner Gem Diamonds (GEMD) is any guide.

The firm owns a 70% stake in the Letseng mine, which is famous for producing large, exceptional white diamonds, making it the highest dollar per carat kimberlite diamond mine in the world, yet over the last decade the shares have lost more than 90% of their value.

2025 started well enough, with the firm reporting ‘all operational metrics for FY24 within or ahead of the improved revised guidance’ and 13 diamonds greater than 100 carats recovered during the year compared with five the previous year.

However, when the company reported its 2024 results in mid-March, its auditors RSM & Co reportedly gave an unqualified opinion expressing doubt Gem Diamonds could continue as a going concern.

In late April, the firm said two large diamonds were recovered in the first quarter and would be sold in the second quarter, but it also revealed the first quarter’s large diamond tender was held over ‘because of US tariff uncertainty’, which has raised doubts as to whether the same thing could happen this quarter and whether any goods will be sold.

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