Canada's Lucara Diamond (TSX:LUC) has kicked off the new year with yet another massive find at its flagship Karowe diamond mine in Botswana.
The 127 carat, top white gem diamond, is one of the of 129 precious stones of over 100 carats the company has recovered at the mine since it began operations in 2012. That tally includes 12 diamonds larger than 300 carats in size, of which five were recovered last year.
The 127 carat, top white gem diamond, is one of the of 129 precious stones of over 100 carats Lucara has recovered at the mine since 2012.In addition to finding the world's second-largest diamond, Lucara has sold 180 stones in excess of $1 million each and ten diamonds have fetched more than $10 million each.
"The recovery of this latest, high value, top white 127 carat diamond attests to the remarkable nature of the Karowe orebody, which has consistently delivered large, high value diamonds throughout its history," chief executive Eira Thomas said in a statement.
The Vancouver-based company will focus this year on finalizing a feasibility study into potential underground production and life-of-mine expansion for Karowe that could extend operations from 2026 to beyond 2036.
The miner aims to recover between 300,000 and 330,000 carats from Karowe this year, out of 2.5-million to 2.8-million tonnes of ore processed, at an operating cash cost of between $32/t and $37/t processed.