Windhoek
The Lucara Diamond Corporation, a diamond producer with assets in Botswana, said earlier this week that it made an historic recovery of a 1 111 carat gem quality diamond, Type IIa.
The magnificent stone, which originated from the south lobe of Lucara’s Karowe Mine, is the world’s second largest gem quality diamond ever recovered and the largest ever to be recovered through a modern processing facility. The stone was recovered by the newly installed Large Diamond Recovery XRT machines. The stone measures 65mm x 56mm x 40mm in size and is the largest ever to be recovered in Botswana.
“This historic diamond recovery puts Lucara and the Karowe mine amongst a select number of truly exceptional diamond producers. The significance of the recovery of a gem quality stone larger than 1 000 carats, the largest for more than a century and the continued recovery of high quality stones from the south lobe, cannot be overstated.
“Our focus on mining the south lobe, which is delivering value beyond expectation, has been perfectly timed with the commissioning of our recent plant modifications, enabling the recovery of these large, high quality exceptional diamonds,” said William Lamb, president and chief executive officer of Canadian-based Lucara.
Lucara’s assets include the Karowe Mine in Botswana, two Precious Stone Exploration Licenses in Botswana and the Mothae Project in Lesotho. The 100 percent owned Karowe Mine is in production, while the 75 percent owned Mothae Project is currently being divested. Lucara, a relatively new diamond producer, said it has completed the trial mining stage and has put the Mothae plant under care and maintenance while it investigates further development options.
Both Mothae and Karowe are large scale assets with tonnage and production that consistently includes large Type IIA stones. Lucara is a member of the Lundin Group of Companies and is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, Nasdaq, Stockholm and the Botswana Stock Exchange under the symbol “LUC”.
Lucara yesterday added that two more exceptional stones have been recovered through the XRT diamond recovery units. The two white diamonds, an 813 carat stone and a 374 carat stone, have been added to the roster of incredible diamonds recovered from the south lobe of Lucara’s Karowe mine in Botswana. The weights of the stones are subject to change as they have not yet been cleaned. “I’m truly at a loss for words. This has been an amazing week for Lucara with the recovery of the second largest and also the sixth largest gem quality diamonds ever mined. We are truly blessed by this amazing asset,” said Lamb.