Lucapa Angola Tender Rakes In $17M

RAPAPORT... Lucapa Diamond Company sold $16.7 million worth of roughstones from its Lulo mine at the first diamond tender under Angola's newsales rules."The exceptional sale prices achieved for the Lulo diamondsreflected the highly competitive bidding from leading internationaldiamantaires and large-stone manufacturers from eight countries thatparticipated in the tender," the company said Friday. The miner sold seven special-size stones throughan electronic tender in Luanda organized by state-owned diamond-marketingcompany Sodiam. Six white stones weighing 114.94, 85.24, 75.62, 70.08, 62.05and 43.25 carats, and a 46.77-carat pink, fetched a combined average price of$33,530 per carat at the sale, which took place January 30 to 31. Lucapa has been withholdingthe stones from sale throughout the year to sell them under the reformedrules, which were designed to improve transparency and pricing. Under the previous regulations, miners were required to selltheir diamonds to a list of buyers Sodiam selected, limiting competition for thestones and causing pricing to fall below market levels. The new system allowscompanies to offer 60% of their production to clients of their choice. Lucapa has now sold $141million worth of rough Lulo diamonds since it began commercial operations in2015, at an average price of $2,105 per carat. The company's shareprice rose 8% Friday following the announcement.Image: The 114.94-carat (right) and 85.24-carat (left) stones from Lulo. (Lucapa Diamond Company)