Lucara Produces First Diamonds in Lesotho

Lucara Diamond Corp. started diamond production at its Mothae mine in Lesotho, the company announced Monday. The company started mining in late May, generating a kimberlite stockpile feed for the diamond recovery plant. 

The mining company completed upgrading the recovery plant and the ore feed rate is expected to ramp up to its design capacity of 30,000 tonnes per month within the next 30 to 45 days.

Lucara added that provisional audit work on x-ray tailings indicates a high level of recovery efficiency which was a key objective of the plant upgrade.

William Lamb, President and CEO of Lucara said that the information collected during the trial mining phase is essential for the company as it progresses with mine operations.

A diamond valuation of the Lesotho bulk sample from a year ago gave the goods a high $437 per carat tag price.

“We are looking forward to realizing the value of the Mothae diamonds when we have our first tender in the fourth quarter of this year,” Lamb added.

Lucara currently has two mines under development:  the newly commissioned Mothae mine in Lesotho and the AK6 project in Botswana. Both projects are known for their large, high-quality, high-value diamonds including Type IIA stones produced from the Mothae mine.