High-Quality Rough Lifts Lucapa Profit

RAPAPORT... Lucapa Diamond Company returned to profit in the first half,amid an increase in sales and a higher average price, the company said Tuesday. The miner recorded a net profit of $1.1 million in the sixmonths ending June 30, compared with a loss of $4.3 million during the sameperiod last year. Sales of rough from the company's Lulo mine in Angola andMothae deposit in Lesotho rose 85% to $29.4 million, as Lucapa produced alarger number of higher-quality diamonds. The average price for Lulo roughjumped to $3,668 per carat, more than twice the 2018 figure. Diamonds fromMothae, which began commercial production in December, fetched an average of$588 per carat. Production at the Angola site fell 24% to 7,236 carats, asthe company processed ore from lower-grade mining areas. However, the company'stotal production more than doubled to 20,504 carats. Mothae's 13,267-caratyield was 36% higher than the company had expected in the first half, Lucapaexplained. During the January-to-June period, the miner recovered 445stones weighing more than 4.8 carats. Those included a 126-carat diamond fromMothae and two stones larger than 100 carats from Lulo. At the end of theperiod, Lucapa had 3,855 carats in its Mothae inventory, and 3,147 carats atLulo. In the second half, the company will transition to thehigher-margin area in Mothae's southern pit, and will start mining in the flood-plainblocks at Lulo, which are expected to produce higher average grades. The newarea is situated between two high-quality kimberlite areas, the company noted. "The June half result has put Lucapa on track for a strongerperformance in the second half of 2019, as mining at Mothae transitions tohigher-margin diamond zones and the production expansion at Lulo is delivered,"the miner said. "The new mining areas...have the potential to increase diamondresources and mine life." Image: Diamonds from Mothae. (Lucapa Diamond Company)