Lucapa Diamond (ASX:LOM) (not to be confused with Lucara Diamond) has sold 7,008 carats of rough diamonds at an auction in Antwerp for a total of US$3.5M, including some diamonds selling for US$26,000 per carat which is substantially higher than the average sales price of US$588/carat for the total production of just over 12,400 carats so far this year.
Lucapa seems to be hanging in there despite its decision to delay the dewatering of the southern pit of the Mothae mine in Lesotho, as the water will be used to keep the plant up and running in the second half of the year. The pit water will first be transferred to a new 500,000 cubic meter reservoir where after Lucapa Diamond will start its mining activities at the Southern pit, where it expects to find higher margin diamonds than at the zones it’s currently mining.
Despite mining the ‘poorer’ zone right now, the proceeds from the diamond sales are encouraging, and Lucapa is planning to put a third tender together this month as the kimberlite plant continues to recover saleable diamonds.
Go to Lucapa’s website
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