Lucara Diamond Corp. said it has recovered a 127 carat, top white gem diamond, at its 100% owned Karowe Diamond mine located in Botswana. Since mining began at the mine in 2012, a total of 129 diamonds in excess of 100 carats have been recovered, 33 in 2018 alone. That tally includes 12 diamonds larger than 300 carats in size, of which 5 were recovered in 2018. In addition, Lucara has sold 180 diamonds in excess of $1 million each and ten diamonds have sold for in excess of $10 million each.
Lucara CEO, Eira Thomas said the recovery of this latest, high value, top white 127 carat diamond attests to the remarkable nature of the Karowe orebody, which has consistently delivered large, high value diamonds throughout its history.
“2018 was a banner year, having recovered a record number of Specials (diamonds >10.8 carats in size) and in 2019, mining will be largely focused on the high value south lobe, including contributions from the newly refined EMPKS unit which is now understood to be the source of both the historic 1109 carat Lesedi la Rona and the 813 carat Constellation, which sold for a record US$63.1 million,” Thomas said.
“The Karowe Diamond mine currently boasts open pit reserves of 2.6 million carats extending out to 2026 and is in the process of completing a feasibility study that could expand mining underground to 2036 and beyond.”
Lucara Completes First Sale Through Clara Diamond Solutions
The company also reported its inaugural diamond sale through Clara Diamond Solutions, its 100% owned digital sales platform, was successfully launched on Friday, November 30 and final matching was completed on December 16, 2018. A total of seven manufacturers participated in the sale, five of whom matched and received their orders.
All told, diamonds successfully matched to orders generated revenue of US$660,865, achieving +8% over Lucara’s market price and +15% over Lucara’s reserve price for these goods. Goods of approximately similar value have been set aside for the next sale, scheduled to take place later this month. Diamonds will be added onto the platform in the coming weeks gradually, as additional manufacturers are on-boarded and in response to increasing variety and size of orders received. In time, as supply and demand is optimized, Lucara will progress into continuous sales of appropriate, qualifying goods through Clara. Further, Lucara will continue to augment its overall sales strategy through a combination of Clara and its regular tender process.
How does Clara work?
Clara uses proprietary analytics, with the latest cloud and blockchain technologies, to sell rough diamonds individually, based on polished characteristics and demand, transforming the sales process, driving efficiencies and unlocking value for diamond producers and manufacturers alike.
Under an exclusive collaboration agreement with Sarine Technologies, a digital fingerprint of each rough diamond is created and uploaded to the Clara platform with a corresponding asking price. Simultaneously, diamond buyers upload their specific polished diamond requirements in terms of size, cut, color and quality, including their desired purchase price, creating an ‘order’ within Clara. Clara uses proprietary analytics to match individual, scanned rough diamonds to the buyers’ optimal polished requirements. Clara earns the differential between the asking price and purchase price of each match as its revenue and requires a minimum transaction spread to facilitate an optimal match.
