ASX-listed Lucapa Diamond Company and its partners have announced results from the latest sale of diamonds from the Lulo alluvial mine in Angola. The run of mine parcels totalling 5,573 carats of Lulo diamonds achieved gross revenues of US$10.0 million (A$14.5 million), representing an average price of US$1,800 per carat. This took total sales of Lulo stones to date in H1, 2019 to US$22.1 million achieving an average price per carat of US$3,668, further underling Lulo’s status as the world’s highest average price alluvial diamond production. The sale excluded several high-value diamonds which remain held in inventory by Lulo alluvial mining company Sociedade Mineira Do Lulo (SML). These diamonds include the 130 carat Type IIa D-colour diamond and a 46 carat pink. As previously foreshadowed, SML is undertaking a self-funded expansion of its Lulo diamond mining operations to deliver a ~50% increase in annualised plant throughput to approximately 450,000 m3 by 2020. The latest Lulo diamond sale closely follows the US$3.5 million sale of diamonds from Lucapa’s second high-value mine, the Mothae kimberlite mine in Lesotho. In May 2019 the company recovered its first+100 carat diamond for its Mothae mine in Lesotho. The stone is a gem-quality 126 carat diamond and is the largest diamond recovered since commercial mining operations commenced in January 2019. The diamond is also the sixth +50 carat diamond recovered since Lucapa commenced its pre-production bulk sampling programme at Mothae in 2018. It comes shortly after Lucapa and its partners recovered a 130 carat gem-quality diamond from the company’s high-value Lulo alluvial mine in Angola. Lesotho Minister of Mining, the Honourable Keketso Sello, said the recovery of the 126 carat diamond represented another milestone for Lesotho’s highly-prospective diamond sector. “Lesotho is very proud of its international reputation as a producer of large and high-quality diamonds and this latest recovery from our newest mine, Mothae, continues to demonstrate our nation’s great potential,” said minister Sello. Lucapa MD Stephen Wetherall said the 126 carat diamond was further proof of the large stone and high-value nature of the Mothae kimberlite resource, which is located within 5 km of Letseng, the world’s highest US$ per carat kimberlite diamond mine.
Sales of Angola's Lulo mine diamonds in the first half of 2019 were $22.1m, achieving an average price per carat of $3,668, making Lulo the world’s highest-average-price alluvial diamond producer. Parcels totalling 5,573 carats of diamonds achieved total revenues of $10m, giving an average price of $1,800 per carat. Lulo mining company Sociedade Mineira Do Lulo (SML) has retained high carat stones which include the 130 IIa D-colour diamond as well as the 46-carat pink stone found earlier this year. SML plans a 50% increase in plant at Lulo, to bring throughput to approximately 450,000 m3 by 2020.