Lucara Sells 26,196 Carats of Karowe Diamonds in First Online Auction System
June 12, 12
(IDEX Online News) - Lucara Diamond Corp. yesterday (Tuesday) sold 26,196 carats of Karowe diamonds through its new online auction system. Total revenue from the sale was $5.64 million, averaging $215 per carat (p/c).
Thirty of the 35 individual lots – which contained a total of total of 29,339 carats of diamond – were sold, including a 25.9-carat stone sold for $5,022 p/c.
“With the first sale of Karowe production Lucara has achieved the final milestone in its transition to an operating company,” said president and CEO, William Lamb.
“It is a direct reflection of the current status of global markets that not all diamonds were sold during this first auction; however, we are extremely bullish about the market outlook overall and look forward to our future sales. Our new Karowe mine produces high quality diamonds and we can expect to always see steady demand regardless of the cycle the market is in.”
The company said ramp-up to full production is making good progress, and will continue into the third quarter of the year.
At the end of May, 2012, more than 33,500 carats of diamond were recovered from 85,000 tons of ore processed at Karowe. The recovered grade of 39 carats per hundred tons supports the resource grade estimate for the area of the pit being mined.
Lucara’s two key assets are the 100-percent owned Karowe mine in Botswana and the Mothae project in Lesotho. The 75-percent owned Mothae Project is currently in the trial mining stage.