Exceptional diamonds are nothing new for Lucara Diamond's (TSX: LUC) Karowe mine in Botswana, but this fall has seen the miner unearth coloured gems as well as large high-value Type IIa stones. Lucara recently reported it has recovered a 123-carat Type IIa diamond, a 9.74-carat blue diamond and a 4.13-carat pink diamond - all from the South Lobe of the AK6 kimberlite.
The company also recovered a 375-carat gem-quality diamond from the processing of historic DMS recovery tailings, which were produced before the installation of XRT diamond recovery circuit at the plant. In June, Lucara increased its production guidance for the year to 375-420,000 carats from 300-320,000 carats as a result of record processing plant performance. The company says the improved recoveries have been driven by greater asset availability and utilization, combined with an improved mine call factor. However, most of the production increase is from smaller diamonds, and as the majority of the company's revenue comes from special stones (above 10.8 carats), Lucara left its revenue guidance unchanged at US$170 million to US$200 million.
At press time, the company was set to release its third quarter financial results in November.
In the first half, Lucara sold US$2.9 million worth of diamonds through its Clara digital platform, and grew its customer base to twenty from four. Lucara is planning to bring other producers onto the platform by year-end.
Also in the fourth quarter, look for the company to complete of a feasibility study for underground mining at Karowe. A 2017 preliminary economic assessment suggested underground development could add 10 years of mine life with production at 272,000 carats annually.
- This article originally appeared in the November 2019 issue of Diamonds in Canada.