Lucara Diamond (TSX: LUC) announced in October that its new sales platform Clara Diamond Solutions, is ready for its first sale of diamonds in November.
The platform is meant to modernize the diamond selling process and improve margins for both buyers and sellers. Sales through Clara will be stone by stone rather than by assortments, which the company says will achieve the best possible price for producers and allowing manufactures to buy only what they want. Through proprietary analytics, the technology matches the characteristics of rough diamonds with the buyers' requirements for the final polished stone.
The digital technology uses blockchain technology for secure transactions and proof of the origin of the stones, improving consumer confidence.
The initial sale will include rough diamonds from Lucara's Karowe mine in Botswana, as well as third-party rough diamonds between 1 carat and 15 carats in better colours and qualities.
Lucara says a select group of large jewelry houses and diamond manufacturers are participating.
At The Northern Miner's Diamonds Symposium in Toronto in June, Lucara president and CEO Eira Thomas predicted that the platform, which the company acquired in February in an all-share, $29-million deal that resulted in less than 3.7% dilution, would soon prove its value.
"It's very inexpensive to get this platform up and running - our total budget for the year is $3 million and our view is that Clara will generate revenues that will match or exceed the revenues we're generating from our mine," she said.
- This article was first published in the November 2018 issue of Diamonds in Canada.