Lucapa’s Mothae Stones Fetch $3.5M

RAPAPORT… Lucapa Diamond Company garnered $3.5 million at the second
tender of diamonds from its Mothae mine in Lesotho, with stones selling for up
to $26,000 per carat, it said Wednesday.



The miner sold 7,008 carats of rough stones at the Antwerp
tender, and based on the results, is considering a third sale in the second
quarter. That tender would include a 126-carat diamond the Australia-based miner
recovered earlier this month, as well as other type IIa stones weighing 15
carats, 13 carats and 12 carats. Lucapa began commercial production at Mothae
in January.


Including the proceeds from this tender, Lucapa has brought
in revenue of $7.3 million from sales of Mothae diamonds this year. The stones
have fetched an average overall price of $588 per carat for regular production,
and $729 per carat for diamonds in +11 sieve sizes.



To date, mining at Mothae has been restricted to the lower-value
portion of the deposit due to water in the higher-value southern pit. In the
second half of the fiscal year, the miner will complete construction on a dam
wall that will enable it to begin processing ore from that
higher-value area, it noted.


“We continue to be encouraged by the regular recovery of
specials, and sales results achieved from the supposed lower-margin areas
of…Mothae,” said Lucapa managing director Stephen Wetherall.

Image: Image: Rough diamonds from the Mothae tender. (Lucapa Diamond Company)