Coronavirus: Lulo Sales Plunge by 80 per cent
July 15, 20
(IDEX Online) - Rough sales fell by 80 per cent during Q2 at Lucapa's Lulo Mine, in Angola, as the COVID-19 pandemic continued.
Price per carat was down by 67 per cent, said the Australia-based miner in its quarterly report.
Lucapa has now resumed drilling at five prospective pipes and two other priority alluvial targets at Lulo (pictured) in the Canguige catchment after an enforced shutdown in April.
But it has yet to resume operations at Mothae, in Lesotho, which closed in March.
Rough diamond sales for Q2 were down from $10m to $2m year-on-year, number of carats sold were down 40 per cent to 3,346 and rough price per carat dropped to $594.
A total of 2,944 carats were produced during the Q2, including 86 diamonds +4.8 carats, among the 30 specials. The largest of all was a 171-carat gem-quality stone.
Lucapa had 2,647 carats in its Lulo inventory at the end of the quarter and 784 carats at Mothae.
It said it was still exploring refinancing solutions with a number of parties as well as existing financiers.