Lucapa Diamond Company has sold six diamonds recovered from the Lulo mine, in Angola, in a special tender for $12.4-million.
The diamonds totalled 447 ct and consisted of five white Type IIa diamonds, as well as a pink diamond.
The average price per carat was about $27 700.
MD and CEO Nick Selby deems the tender result pleasing. “Our alluvial project, in Angola, continues to deliver fantastic diamonds that are always in demand through all market cycles and achieve very competitive values.”
Lucapa today (25 June) announced the sale of its 70 per cent stake in the Mothae mine, in Lesotho, to a local contractor for a nominal sum.
The Australian miner said it wanted to to focus on its core assets in Africa, where it has a 40 per cent stake in the Lulo alluvial mine, in Angola, and in Australia.
Mothae has produced over 150,000 carats since it started commercial production in 2019, bringing in more than $100m in revenue.
Lucapa says it will sell its stake in stake in Mothae Diamonds (Pty) Ltd to Lephema Executive Transport (Pty) Ltd, which has provided it with long-term contract mining services, for A$10,000 (US$6,660).
Mothae Diamonds, which owns the site, will pay Lucapa A$1m (US$666,000) in outstanding technical services payments.
“This agreement is the result of a period of offer and negotiation involving Lucapa and several interested parties,” said Lucapa managing director and CEO Nick Selby.
“(Lephema) Executive has a successful history with the Mothae Diamond Mine, having provided long-term contract mining services. Lucapa wanted to, as far as possible, see
this mine continue to operate and Executive are best placed to achieve this.
“The signing of this agreement is a key step towards Lucapa streamlining its portfolio and executing the new strategy which will focus on assets in Australia and Angola”.
Mothae has indicated resources of 180,000 carats and inferred resources of 960,000 carats, according to December 2023 figures provided by Lucapa, with a modelled per carat value of $606.
Lucapa said in its sales material that Mothae has recovered 13 +100ct diamonds (largest Type IIa gem 213cts), and 10 diamonds valued at over $1m.
Lucapa Diamond announced Tuesday that together with its Lulo alluvial mine partners, Endiama and Rosas & Petalas, the company has recovered a 195 carat Type IIa diamond from its Lulo mine in Angola.
The diamond is the sixth largest and the 44th +100 carat diamond to be recovered from the Lulo mine, the company said, adding that the 195 carat Type IIa diamond is the fourth +100 diamond to be recovered at Lulo this year.
The mine, which hosts the world’s highest dollar-per-carat alluvial diamonds, began commercial production in January 2015. Only a year later, it delivered the largest ever diamond recovered in Angola a 404 carat white stone later named the “4th February Stone”.
Lucapa has a 40% stake in the Lulo mine. The rest is held by Angola’s national diamond company (Endiama) and Rosas & Petalas, a private entity.
Angola is the world’s fifth diamond producer by value and sixth by volume. Its industry, which began a century ago under Portuguese colonial rule, is successfully being liberalized.
In 2019 to date, Lucapa has sold a total of $26.5 million worth of Lulo diamonds
Lucapa, which owns and operates the Lulo alluvial mine in Angola and the Mothae kimberlite mine in Lesotho, sold a parcel of 3,558 carats of Lulo diamonds for $4.4 million in its latest sale – a whooping $1,234 per carat, according to IDEX Online. In 2019 to date, Lucapa has sold a total of $26.5 million worth of Lulo diamonds ($2,764 per carat).
Lucapa also reported selling a parcel of 4,376 carats of Mothae diamonds for $1.8 million. These figures bring sales of diamonds from Lulo mine in Angola and the Mothae kimberlite mine in Lesotho to $35.5 million in 2019 to date.
Earlier this week, Lucapa announced the recovery of a top-color, exceptional 64-carat diamond from its Mothae mine in Lesotho. According to Lucapa MD Stephen Wetherall, the Type IIa D-colour stone “is considered to be the best individual diamond recovered to date from the Mothae mine”.
