Lucara Q1 Revenue Declines

(IDEX Online News) – Lucara Diamond Corp. announced that revenue for the first quarter ended March 31 dropped from $32.8 million in 2014 to $29.6 million. Average rough diamond prices also fell, from $305 per carat in 2014 to $277 per carat in the first quarter of 2015.

Despite this, profits increased to $6 million, up from $5.1 million in the comparable 2014 quarter.

Production from the Karowe Mine in Botswana dropped to 90,077 carats, compared to 113,950 carats in the fourth quarter of last year. The company said that the volume of carats recovered was 7 percent below its forecast due to mining in harder fragmental kimberlite. Lucara said this issue will be overcome in the second quarter of the year with the commissioning of a tertiary crusher that will increasing fine diamond liberation.

The mine produced 153 specials (+10.8 carats) during with an average size of 27.7 carats.

During the quarter, the average per carat price also dropped, from $675 dollars in the last quarter of the year, to $277 ($312 Q1 2014).

Looking forward, Lucara said that Karowe is in line with its forecast to process 2.3-2.5 million tons of ore and to sell 400,000 to 420,000 carats of diamond in 2015 and maintains its revenue forecast of between $230 and $240 million.