Lucara Unearths 240-carat White Diamond in Botswana

Diamond miner Lucara Diamond (TSX:LUC,NASDAQ:LUC) has discovered a massive 240-carat top white gem diamond at the company’s wholly-owned Karowe gem stone mine located in Botswana.

The discovery of the large sparkler was the company’s second big find in 2019.

Earlier this month, Lucara excavated a 127-carat top white gem at the Karowe mine. To date, Lucara has mined 129 diamonds in excess of 100 carats, with 33 of those recovered in 2018 alone.

Since mining began at the Botswana-based Karowe mine in 2012, a dozen 300+ carat have been unearthed, five in the last year.

In addition to finding large, record-setting diamonds, Lucara has also sold 180 diamonds in excess of US$1 million each and ten diamonds have sold for more than US$10 million per stone.

This latest 240-carat discovery is the 54th diamond of 200 carats or more found by the company.

“This top white 240 carat gem diamond was mined from the M/PK(S) unit within the South Lobe, providing continuing confirmation that large, high quality gem diamonds are recovered throughout the kimberlite, in all lobes and phases on a regular basis,” Lucara CEO Eira Thomas noted in the press release.

“As Karowe enters its 7th full year of production, the regular recovery of Specials [diamonds 10.8 carats or larger] continues unabated and in line with expectations.”

January has been an eventful month for the diamond miner. On January 8, the company completed its first digital diamond sale on its platform Clara Diamond Solutions.

The sale, which commenced in late November, was attended by seven gem manufacturers five of which purchased diamonds.

The five stones sold for a total of US$660,865 — 8 percent higher than Lucara’s market price, and 15 percent more than the company’s reserve diamond price.

Lucara also worked to improve mining operations at Karowe in 2018, positioning them to advance the mine in 2019.

“2018 was a banner year, having recovered a record number of Specials (diamonds >10.8 carats in size) and in 2019, mining will be largely focused on the high value south lobe, including contributions from the newly refined EMPKS unit which is now understood to be the source of both the historic 1109 carat Lesedi la Rona and the 813 carat Constellation, which sold for a record US$63.1 million,” Thomas said earlier this month.

“The Karowe diamond mine currently boasts open pit reserves of 2.6 million carats extending out to 2026 and is in the process of completing a feasibility study that could expand mining underground to 2036 and beyond.”

Lucara estimates its production totals will hit 300,000-330,000 carats annually in 2019, with revenues of US$170-US4,200 million. The company also plans to host several tenders each year using its digital platform.

Shares of Lucara were up 1.90 percent on Monday (January 28), trading at C$1.61.

Image courtesy of Lucara Diamond.

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Securities Disclosure: I, Georgia Williams, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.