Antwerp Tender Completes Trial Mining of Mothae, Says Lucara

(IDEX Online News) - Lucara Diamond reported the sale of 4,657 carats of rough diamonds by Mothae Diamonds, its joint venture with the Lesotho government, fetched $1.51 million. This translates into a per-carat price of $324.

The sale consisted of 32 parcels of which 26 were sold on a sealed tender at the offices of Bonas-Couzyn in Antwerp. 

The highest-value stone sold was a 9.74 carat Type IIA diamond which achieved a price of $272,720 or $28,000 per carat.

Notwithstanding the high quality Type IIa diamond recovered, the diamonds sold today were mined from a higher grade area of the kimberlite which is generally known to producer lower quality, smaller diamonds.

According to the company, this sale completes the trial mining program on the Mothae project and with the consent of the Government of Lesotho, the processing facility will be placed on care and maintenance as it works towards completing a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) of the Mothae project.  The PEA is well advanced and together with a an independent technical report, is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2013.