Lucapa's New Resource Yields Large Stones

RAPAPORT... Lucapa Diamond Company has recovered an 11.88-carat stone duringbulk sampling at the North zone of its Mothae mine, the third new section toproduce large stones. The miner has been testing the unexplored areas of Mothaesince it purchased the Lesotho asset last year. The company found an 89-caratdiamond in the Southeast-zone sampling and a 25-carat yellow from the Neckregion. The large-diamond recoveries during bulk sampling areencouraging, CEO Stephen Wetherall said. The plan was for the program to provide theminer with additional data not included in its original report of Mothae'stotal resources, which was based on geological testing, Wetherall noted. "Certain areas of the kimberlite pipe which hadn'thistorically been sampled (Neck zone), or where there had been very limitedhistorical testing (Southeast and North zones), were thought to beunderestimated as a result," he added. "Atthe time of acquisition, we believed there was much upside here, and thisprogram is designed to deliver that upside." Lucapa expects to complete bulk testing by the end ofSeptember, after which the miner will update its resource report.