Lucara Sells 14 Large Diamonds for $22.9M

(IDEX Online News) – Lucara Diamond Corp. reported the sale of 14 single stone lots from its third Exceptional Stone Tender on November 25 raised gross revenues of $22.9 million, or $20,280 per carat.

In total, 1,028 carats were sold, with the highest value stones sold being a 256.6-carat and a 137.9-carat diamond for $4.40 million and $4.28 million, respectively. An additional seven diamonds sold for more than $1.0 million each.

The company will hold one more regular tender during the fourth quarter, bringing the total volume of diamonds sold in 2013 to over 420,000 carats in line with its forecasts.

Lucara also announced the continued recovery of exceptionally large stones from the Karowe mine in Botswana, including a 167-carat diamond and a 122-carat diamond. They will be sold at tender in 2014.

William Lamb, President and CEO, commented, "The company has received tremendous demand for its beautiful Karowe diamonds. This success truly demonstrates how robust the market continues to be for large, high quality diamonds. Globally, diamonds above 100 carats are exceedingly rare, yet since March alone Karowe has produced 16 diamonds greater than 100 carats each."

In addition to the Karowe mine, the firm has a 75-percent stake in the Mothae project in Lesotho.