Lucara Diamond Reports Q3 Revenues of $90.9 Million

Lucara Diamond Corp. (TSX:LUC) released its Q3 report, commenting that it recorded revenues of $90.9 million for the quarter with an operating margin of 88 percent. In all, earnings per share for the period were $0.12, up from $0.11 in the year-ago quarter.
Other financial highlights are as follows:

• EBITDA for the period was $66.8 million and year to date was $95.3 million.
• Net cash position of $122.7 million increased from $74 million at June 2015 following the Company’s first exceptional stone tender and regular tender during the quarter.
• Year to date costs at $29.44 per tonne ore processed remain well controlled and marginally below forecast. Plant optimization costs and sustaining capital costs are within forecast.
• Dividend: cumulative dividend of CND 4 cents per share to be paid to shareholders on Decembers 17, 2015

Key operational points are listed below:

• Tonnes processed post plant optimization commissioning improved during the quarter. Tonnes milled in the third quarter were 11% higher than the previous quarter with 100,651 carats recovered during the period.
• Fourth quarter processing is expected to be focused on south lobe ore.

William Lamb, president and CEO of Lucara, commented:

Karowe continued to deliver strong cash flows in Q3, underpinned by the sale of our large, high value diamonds and our disciplined approach to cost control and allocation of capital. Further, demand for our diamonds remains high and we anticipate continued, robust free cash flow to help deliver strong shareholder returns going forward. We have been pleased with the optimized plant performance through the quarter with production returning to design capacity levels. This is particularly important as production in the fourth quarter will focus on south lobe material. The commissioning of the bulk sample plant has resulted in us advancing on our exploration activities. We look forward to updating the market on these exciting developments.

Click here to read the full Lucara Diamond Corp. (TSX:LUC) press release.