Gem Diamonds said it earned an average of $2,146 (1,534 pounds) per carat in the first three tenders of 2015, compared with $2,140 in the fourth quarter of 2014.

The miner, which expects production at its Ghaghoo mine in Botswana to be in full swing in the second half of this year, said production at Letseng for the four months to April fell 8 percent to 31,369 carats due to a planned shutdown.

The company recovered a 314 carat Type IIa white diamond, which it sold into a partnership arrangement in May.

(Reporting By Mamidipudi Soumithri in Bengaluru; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)