Lucara AK6 Diamond Value Up 24% to $301 p/c

(IDEX Online News) – Lucara Diamond Corp. yesterday (Tuesday) announced a significant increase in the average value of diamonds recovered from the AK6 mine in Botswana. With production at the mine slated to start in the first quarter of 2012, Lucara commissioned an updated valuation of diamonds recovered from the project to date, which resulted in an increase in overall modelled value to $301 per carat (p/c) at a 1.5 mm cut-off size.

The company said the new valuation represents the strong growth in demand for the type and quality of diamonds produced from AK6.

According to current estimates, the project – which will be renamed the Karowe Mine – will produce more than 400,000 carats per year on an annualized basis once production ramps up during the second quarter of 2012. Karowe means “precious stone” in the local dialect.

In its guidance for the project, Lucara said that diamond sales for 2012 are forecast at 325,000 carats, achieving an annualized 400,000 carats per year. AK6 has an initial mine life of 15 years at 2.5 million tons per annum.

“AK6 (Karowe) is a strategic project and will soon be our first operating mine. We are fully committed to building one of the best new mines in the industry and look forward to being a major employer and contributor to the local communities in which we will work for many years to come,” said Lucara president and CEO William Lamb.

As well as the 100-percent owned AK6 project (Karowe Mine), Lucara is a 75 percent owner of the Mothae diamond mine in Lesotho. The Mothae mine is currently in the trial mining stage.