Gem Diamonds has just completed its first financial year as a listed company and what a year it has been. The company has stumbled across a small horde of mega-diamonds, boosted production at is main mine in Lesotho, southern Africa, and timed it to coincide with bull run in rough diamond prices that some analysts predict will see prices rise 40 per cent by 2012.

Throw in plans to double capacity in Lesotho and a series of acquisitions which has brought Gem assets in countries such as Australia (by taking control of the Kimberley Diamond Company), Botswana and Indonesia and the company begins to sparkle.