Lack of Large Diamonds Dents Lucara Sales

RAPAPORT... Lucara Diamond Corp's revenue and profit fell in 2017, assales of exceptional diamonds and overall production at its Karowe mine slumpedduring the year. Revenue for 2017 dropped 25% to $220.8 million, with thevolume of goods sold down 27% to 260,526 carats, the company reported Tuesday.The average selling price rose 3% to $847 per carat, which was boosted by thesale of the Lesedi la Rona, a 1,109-carat diamond recovered at Karowe, whichsold to Graff Diamonds for $53 million. In 2016, revenue was buoyed by the saleof the 813-carat Constellation diamond for $63.1 million. However, overall sales of exceptional stones -excluding the Lesedi la Rona and the Constellation - fell 39%, according toRapaport calculations, as the company reported an average price of $31,005 percarat from the sale of 1,766 carats of such specials. Production amounted to 249,767 carats, which was lowerthan expected, after the company experienced problems with its miningcontractor. That forced processing to shift to lower-grade stockpiles, while theminer transitioned to a new contractor in the fourth quarter. Lucara expects lower production and revenue again in2018, projecting that Karowe will unearth between 270,000 and 290,000 carats,and that revenue will slide to within the range of $170 million to $200 million. Profit in 2017 fell 8% to $65.1 million.