5 February 2021

Lucara’s double diamond strike

Mining company’s large diamond discovery follows similar find just days before at Botswana site.

© Lucara Diamonds

Canadian mining company, Lucara Diamond, has unearthed an unbroken 378-carat white gem-quality rock, the second such discovery at the Botswana site in less than a month.

The stone was made at the company's Karowe mine in Botswana and follows the firm's discovery of an unbroken 341-carat diamond on January 15 in the same area.

The diamond was found from milling of ore sourced from the M/PK(S) unit of the mine’s South Lobe.  Both gems were recovered from the coarse X-ray transmission circuit.

Analysts suggest the new find – the 55th stone over 200 carats found since operations began in 2015 – could fetch over $15mln.

Previous historic recoveries include the 342-carat Queen of the Kalahari, the 549-carat Sethunya, the 1,109-carat Lesedi La Rona found in 2015, and the 1758-carat Sewelô, recovered in 2019.

Eira Thomas, President and CEO at Karowe, says the discovery is a timely one for the project's longevity. "Continued and consistent recovery of large diamonds, such as the 378 carat and 341 carat stones, comes at a critical time and provides continued strength and additional foundation to the opportunity to finance and build the underground expansion at Karowe."

Botswana renewed Lucara’s mining license earlier this month for another 25 years, which allowed the company to move Karowe’s underground expansion project to its execution phase.

The $514mln underground extension of the mine is expected to take five years and extend Karowe’s productive life for at least another 13 years after the open pit ceases operations in 2026.

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