Lucara Brings Back Ex-CEO Lamb to Replace Thomas

Lucara Diamond Corp. will appoint former CEO William Lamb to succeed Eira Thomas as head of the company, the miner announced Monday.

Thomas cofounded Lucara in 2007 and became CEO in 2018. During that time, she masterminded the supply agreement with HB Antwerp for the sale of 10.8-carat and larger diamonds and led the commercialization of Clara, a digital platform for matching rough supply with customers’ polished needs.

William Lamb (Lucara Diamond Corp.)

She recently arranged a $220 million financing package enabling the underground expansion of the company’s Karowe mine in Botswana to advance.

Thomas “has laid the groundwork for further value add at the Karowe diamond mine, for the benefit of all Lucara’s stakeholders,” said Lucara board member Adam Lundin. “We look forward to working with Eira on exploring options to maximize the value of Clara for all stakeholders. We are very pleased to have William rejoin us and successfully lead the company once again.”

Lamb served as Lucara’s CEO from 2011 to 2018 and was responsible for the construction of Karowe. He was known for overseeing the sale of the 1,109-carat Lesedi La Rona diamond, which failed to find a buyer at Sotheby’s in 2016 and ended up going to Graff Diamonds for $53 million.

The leadership change follows news that the underground expansion at Karowe would take longer and cost more than expected.

“William’s prior experience is ideally suited to advancing the company’s key underground project to a successful completion,” Lucara said.

Main image: Eira Thomas. (Lucara Diamond Corp.)