Higher-Grade Ore Lifts Lucapa Production

RAPAPORT… Lucapa Diamond Company’s output rose in the third quarter as higher ore grades at its Lulo mine compensated for a temporary shutdown of the Angola site.

Production from the deposit increased 23% to 9,387 carats during the three months ending September 30, a record quarterly total for the company, despite a pause in operations resulting from the coronavirus pandemic, it said last week. The largest diamond found during the quarter was a 61-carat, gem-quality stone.

Meanwhile, sales soared 74% to $11.6 million, while sales volume jumped 71% to 9,964 carats, with the average price growing 2% to $1,162 per carat. Lucapa sold 6,102 carats into its manufacturing partnership with Graff subsidiary Safdico, an arrangement that grants the miner a proportion of future polished revenues.

The company’s Mothae mine was on care and maintenance through the entire period due to restrictions in Lesotho. Lucapa recommenced mining operations at the deposit at the beginning of the fourth quarter. 

Lucapa also restarted a sampling program at its Brooking lamproite project in Australia, which had been on hold since February 2019 to allow Lucapa to focus on operations at Lulo and Mothae. Its Orapa exploration site in Botswana remains paused.

Image: Bulk sampling at the Lulo mine. (Lucapa Diamond Company)