Directors' awarded options

RNS Number : 7915Z

Gem Diamonds Limited

21 March 2012

 



21 March 2012

GEM DIAMONDS LIMITED

Awards to directors under the Employee Share Option Plan (ESOP)

The Company announces the following grants of Performance Shares (at nominal value US $0.01) and Market Value Options (at an exercise price of 300.05p) which have been made on 20 March 2012 to Directors under the ESOP.

	Number of Performance shares granted	Number of Market Value Options granted
Clifford Elphick	45,000	90,000
Kevin Burford	30,000	60,000
Glenn Turner	30,000	60,000
Alan Ashworth	34,000	68,000

The share holding of each Director in the Company's Ordinary Shares of US $0.01 each is:

Clifford Elphick	9,325,000*
Kevin Burford	458,333
Glenn Turner	400,000
Alan Ashworth	21,900

* Clifford Elphick is interested in these ordinary shares by virtue of his interest as a potential beneficiary in a discretionary trust which has an indirect interest in those ordinary shares.

The grants under the ESOP are structured in the form of Performance Shares and Market Value Options each of which vest on the third anniversary of the date of grant, subject to achieving certain performance conditions. Awards which do not vest will lapse. Those which vest are exercisable between 20 March 2015 and 20 March 2022.

In addition to the above, the number of Performance shares and Market Value Options granted at the same time to senior employees totalled 930,000.

The total number of grants was 1,347,000.

Gem Diamonds Limited

Clifford Elphick, Chief Executive Officer

Glenn Turner, Chief Commercial and Legal Officer

Tel: [phone]

Pelham Bell Pottinger

Charles Vivian / James MacFarlane Tel: [phone]

About Gem Diamonds:

Gem Diamonds is a leading global diamond producer of high value diamonds. The company owns two production mines, the Letšeng mine in Lesotho and the Ellendale mine in Australia, as well as the Ghaghoo mine, currently in development in Botswana. The Letšeng mine is famous for the production of large, top colour, exceptional white diamonds, making it the highest dollar per carat kimberlite diamond mine in the world. Since Gem Diamonds' acquisition of Letšeng in 2006, the mine has produced four of the twenty largest white gem quality diamonds ever recorded.

Gem Diamonds has a clear and consistent growth strategy based on the expansion of the Letšeng mine to double its production capacity by 2014 and the development of the Ghaghoo mine, expected to be in production during 2013. The Company also seeks to maximise revenue and margin from its rough diamond production by pursuing cutting, polishing and sales and marketing initiatives further along the diamond value chain. With favourable supply/demand dynamics expected to benefit the industry over the medium to long term, particularly at the high end of the market supplied by Gem Diamonds, this strategy positions the Company strongly to generate attractive returns for shareholders in the coming years.

www.gemdiamonds.com

This information is provided by RNS

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