Big news on the mining front. Gem Diamonds bought Kimberley Diamond Company for £130m:

London-listed Gem Diamonds today took another big step towards its stated aim of taking on De Beers among the world’s largest diamond miners with the $263m (£130m) acquisition of Australia’s Kimberley Diamond Company.

The deal is Gem’s third acquisition since it was floated six months ago by its ex-De Beers management team headed by Clifford Elphick, a former personal assistant to Sir Harry Oppenheimer.

Gem is to date best-known for producing the 603-carat Lesotho Promise, the 15th-largest rough diamond ever found, from its Letseng mine in southern Africa.

Today’s deal will see it become the world’s fourth-biggest diamond producer. Although some way behind the giants of the industry led by De Beers, BHP Billiton and Aber, Gem is understood to want to get into the retail market and take on, for instance, Aber jewellery arm Harry Winston.