Lucapa Loss Narrows to $1.5m
March 06, 25
(IDEX Online) - Lucapa reported a $1.5m loss for 2024, an improvement on its $17.2m loss the previous year, but it cautioned that future profitability depended on the market picking up.
Rough diamond sales were almost halved, from $102.2m in 2003 to $54.2m as weak demand persisted and prices fell.
Average price per carat in 2024 was $1,980. That compares with $2,700 in 2023 for its Lulo alluvial mine, in Angola, which attracts the highest prices per carat for alluvial diamonds globally.
In the same year it achieved an average $775 per carat at Mothae, in Lesotho. It has since sold its 70 per cent holding in the mine.
In its full year report for 2024, the Australian miner said the gap between supply and demand of natural diamonds had widened, amid challenging and uncertain market conditions.
Demand for +10.8-carat diamond remained "robust" during the year, but smaller diamonds suffered greater price pressure, it said.
The company also noted that flooding caused by a severe end to the wet season had hampered operations at Lulo.
"The ultimate profitability of the company's operations will be dependent upon the market price and marketability of diamonds," it said.#
"There is a risk that a profitable market may not exist for the sale of diamonds produced by the company."
Pic courtesy Lucapa shows mining at Lulo, Angola.