Canadian miner Lucara Diamond has announced that it expects to sell between $200 million to $230 million worth of diamonds from its Karowe mine in Botswana in 2023 – an increase over its previous forecast of $185-$215 million in 2022, IDEX Online reports.
Lucara also said it expects to sell 385,000 to 415,000 carats (up from 300,000 to 340,000 carats in 2022) and expects to recover 395,000 to 425,000 carats (an increase from 300,000 to 340,000 carats).
Recently, Lucara announced that it has extended its sales agreement with HB Trading to sell +10.8-carat rough diamonds from Karowe for another ten years. Lucara and HB partnered in 2020 to sell Karowe’s large, high-value diamonds “that have historically accounted for about 60% to 70% of its annual revenues,” according to a report by Rough & Polished.
Lucara Diamond Corp. is pleased to announce the recovery of a 1,174.76 carat diamond from its 100% owned Karowe Diamond Mine located in Botswana.
The diamond, measuring 77x55x33mm, is described as a clivage gem of variable quality with significant domains of high-quality white gem material, and was recovered from direct milling of ore sourced from the EM/PK(S) unit of the South Lobe.
The 1,174 carat diamond represents the third +1,000 carat diamond recovered from the South Lobe of the AK6 kimberlite since 2015 including the 1,758 carat Sewelô and 1,109 carat Lesedi La Rona.
The 1,174.76 carat diamond was recovered in the Mega Diamond Recovery XRT circuit. On the same production day, several other diamonds of similar appearance (471 carat, 218 carat, 159 carat) were recovered at the main XRT circuit, indicating the 1,174 diamond was part of a larger diamond with an estimated weight of > 2000 carats.
The MDR is positioned after the primary crusher, ahead of the autogenous mill, and is the first opportunity for diamond recovery within the circuit.
Lucapa Diamond Company has recovered a 215-carat diamond from the Mothae kimberlite mine in Lesotho, Africa.
The discovery is the largest Type IIa D-colour white diamond recovered through the 1.1 million tonnes a year Mothae plant since mining operations commenced in January 2019.
The stone is also the second 200-carat-plus and fifth 100-carat-plus diamond recovered through the plant.
Lucapa managing director Stephen Wetherall said the continued recovery of large diamonds at Mothae validated its recent investment decision to expand capacity at the mine.
The company plans to expand Mothae’s processing capacity by around 45 per cent to 1.6 million tonnes a year.
This is scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2021.
“Lucapa has now produced 23 (100-carat-plus) diamonds, four of which are greater than 200 carats (across the two mines) and we, together with the (Government of the Kingdom of Lesotho) as mine partner in Lesotho and Endiama and Rosas & Petalas as mine partners in Angola, look forward to many more such exceptional mining recoveries,” Wetherall said.
The Lesotho Government holds a 30 per cent stake in the Mothae mine, with Lucapa holding the remaining 70 per cent.
Lucapa Diamond Company and its partners have announced the recovery of the 18th +100 carat white diamond by Sociedade Mineria Do Lulo (SML) from its Lulo alluvial mine in Angola.
The recovery of this second +100 carat diamond from Mining Block 46 (MB46), a 104 carat D colour white stone, so soon after the 113 carat D colour white stone, indicates the potential for these blocks as the company moves deeper into the southern terraces.
Lucara Diamond Corp. has unearthed a 549-carat white diamond at its Karowe mine, the fourth-largest stone in the history of the Botswana deposit.
The unbroken stone, which is of “exceptional purity,” is the first large diamond Lucara has recovered using its Mega Diamond Recovery (MDR) equipment, the miner said Wednesday. The unit, which the miner commissioned in 2017, is specifically designed to recover large stones early in the extraction process to reduce the risk of breakage.
The rough stone is worth $15 million to $20 million, according to an estimate by Berenberg investment bank. However, it could potentially sell for more, the bank added.
The diamond came from the high-value EM/PK(S) portion of discovery of Karowe’s lucrative south lobe, Lucara noted. The same area yielded a 176-carat, gem-quality stone earlier this year, and was also the source of the 1,758-carat Sewelô, the 1,109-carat Lesedi La Rona and the 813-carat Constellation.
“Lucara is extremely pleased to be starting off 2020 with the recovery of two large, high-quality diamonds that build on the positive momentum generated following the completion of a strong fourth-quarter sale in December,” Lucara CEO Eira Thomas said.
Lucara has retrieved six diamonds over 100 carats since the beginning of the year. It will announce its plans for the sale of the 549-carat and 176-carat diamonds shortly.
The miner’s share price rose 4% in early trading Thursday following the announcement.
Lucara Diamond Corporation has recovered a 327 carat top colour gem diamond from its one hundred percent owned Karowe diamond mine in Botswana.
Eight rough diamonds larger than 100 carats have now been recovered at Karowe since the beginning of the year, including a 472 carat rough diamond announced earlier this month.
Laurence Graff of Graff Jewellers has purchased the 1,109 carat Lesedi La Rona rough Diamond.
Discovered by Canadian mining company Lucara Diamond Corp at the Botswana mine.
The diamond sold for USD $53 million.
The 1,109 gem is the world’s largest High quality rough diamond to be discovered in more than a century and the largest rough diamond in existence today.
Second only to the Cullinan which weighed 3,106.75 carats, and was discovered at the Premier No. 2 mine in , South Africa, on 26 January 1905.
