Lonrho Mining, the diamond exploration and development company 23.01 percent owned by AIM-listed African investment company Lonrho, on Thursday announced that it had discovered an 'exceptional' 61.30 carat fancy yellow diamond at its Schmidtsdrift mine in the Northern Cape.

"The diamond is octahedron in shape and is expected to yield a high value," Lonrho plc said in a statement to the JSE.

The Schmidtsdrift mine, which is 80 percent owned by Nare Diamonds and 20 percent held by the Schmidtsdrift Communal Property Association, comprises six contiguous farms along the western bank of the Vaal River.

Since commencing operations in April 2006 up to end April 2008, the Schmidtsdrift mine has produced 16 395 carats of diamonds from 3 255 969 tonnes at an average grade of 0.5 carats per hundred tons.

The production included 328 stones in excess of five carats in size, including a rare 235-carat stone, two 66-carat stones and 25 stones between 15 and 50 carats in size.

Lonrho said the latest discovery followed an extensive organisational restructuring at the Schmidtsdrift Mine.

"We are confident that the recently completed operational review at the Schmidtsdrift mine will continue to have a positive effect and hopefully yield further diamonds of this quality," said Lonrho Mining CEO Charles Mostert.

An earlier announcement by the company advised of a significant development at the company's Lulo Project in Angola, where it identified a potential 160 kimberlite pipes from a recently completed airborne survey.

At 10.45am shares in Lonrho were unchanged at seven rand on the JSE.

I-Net Bridge