Lucara Diamond Corp. has raised its revenue forecast for the full year amid the sale of two massive rough stones.
The miner now expects between $140 million and $160 million in total revenue for 2026, compared to its previous guidance of $100 million to $130 million, it said Friday. The increase is thanks to the sale of the 2,488-carat Motswedi diamond and another rough weighing 1,303 carats that Lucara recovered after the close of the second quarter on June 30.
Meanwhile, group sales for the third quarter rose 19% to $61.1 million, as sales volume from the Karowe mine in Botswana grew 12% to 113,227 carats. The average price climbed 7% to $540 per carat, according to Rapaport calculations.
Sales to Belgian manufacturer HB Trading, with whom the miner has a supply agreement for stones above 10.8 carats, increased 28% to $48.5 million, comprising 79% of total revenue. Sales at the company’s tenders were flat year on year for the three months that ended September 30 as an 11% decrease in the average price of goods outweighed increased volume. Revenue from the Clara platform, which matches buyers with rough, fell 30% to $1.4 million, largely reflecting a 26% drop in the average price per carat, due to a greater proportion of smaller and lower-quality diamonds from run-of-mine stock and continued price pressure on smaller goods.
The Clara platform used to belong to Lucara, but the company sold it to former CEO Eira Thomas and HRA Group in 2024. At the time, it maintained a five-year supply agreement to sell its rough through the system. However, it has given notice that it will terminate that deal and will begin selling all diamonds that it previously offered on the platform through its regular tender process beginning in the first quarter of 2027, it explained.
Lucara recorded a net profit of $6.6 million, down 11% from the $7.4 million it reported during the same period a year earlier. Production fell 1.3% to 94,067 carats, despite the recovery of the 1,303-carat rough along with a 316-carat diamond and a further seven stones weighing between 100 and 200 carats.
Naseem Lahri, managing director of Lucara Botswana, will exit the company on November 30. She will continue to support it during the transition until the end of the first quarter of 2027, the miner added.
Image: A 166-carat diamond recovered from Karowe. (Lucara)
