Lucara recovers 1,080-carat diamond, shares advance
Lucara Diamond Corp. [LUC-TSX, LUCRF-OTC] has announced the recovery of a 1,080-carat diamond from its 100%-owned Karowe mine in Botswana. The company said the diamond, measuring 82.2 x 42.8 x 34.2 mm is described as a Type 11a top white gem of high quality. It was recovered from the Coarse XRT unit at Karowe from direct milling of ore sourced from the M/PK(S) unit of the South Lobe area of the AK6 kimberlite.
Lucara shares advanced on the news which was released after the close of trading on August 8, 2023. The shares rose 12.16% or $0.045 to 41.5 cents on volume of 282,130. The shares are currently trading in a 52-week range of 72 cents or 35 cents.
The 1,080-carat diamond represents the fourth + 1,000 carat diamond recovered from the South Lobe of the AK6 kimberlite since 2015. Other notable recoveries include the 1,758 carat Sewelo (2019), a 1,174 carat diamond (2021) and the 1,109 carat Lesedi La Rona (2015).
Lucara is a member of the Lundin Group of companies. The Lucara mine has been in production since 2012 and is the focus of the company’s operations and development activities. Open pit operations are expected to continue to 2026 with further underground potential to 2040.
“Lucara is extremely pleased to be reporting the recovery of another large, high-quality gem diamond in excess of 1,000 carats in size, representing our fourth diamond over 1,000 carats since 2015,’’ said Lucara CEO Eira Thomas.
“As we progress mining deeper in the open pit and transition to underground mining, exclusively in the South Lobe, the preponderance of large, high value stones is increasing, consistent with the resource model and underpins the strong economic rationale for investing in the underground expansion that will extend the mine life out to at least 2040,’’ she said.
As anticipated, the first quarter of 2023 delivered lower revenues than in the comparative 2022 quarter, owing to the change in ore mix processed and diamond pricing weakness resulting from geopolitical economic uncertainty.
A total of 89,649 carats were recovered in the first quarter of 2023, down from 83,917 carats in the equivalent 2022 period. A total of 98 specials were recovered with two diamonds greater than 100 carats, including one diamond greater than 300 carats in weight.
The company has said it expects to recover between 395,000 and 425,000 carats in 2023 and generate diamond revenue of between $200-$300 million.
Financial highlights for the quarter ended March 31, 2023, included revenue of $42.8 million, down from $68.2 million in the first quarter of 2022. During the first quarter of 2023, 64% of the carats processed were recovered from the Centre and North Lobes and 36% were recovered from South Lobe material.
In the first quarter of 2023, the company said $30.5 million was invested in the Karowe underground expansion project. It focused on main shaft sinking activities in both the ventilation shaft and the production shaft.