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Tender of large rough nets Lucara $23M
Mining company Lucara Diamond Corp.’s latest exceptional stone tender brought in $22.9 million for the company, or $20,280 per carat.
Vancouver, British Columbia--Mining company Lucara Diamond Corp.’s latest exceptional stone tender brought in $22.9 million for the company, or $20,280 per carat.
The special sale of rough diamonds from the Karowe Mine in Botswana, the company’s only fully operational mine, was completed on Monday.
The tender consisted of 14 single-stone lots totaling 1,028 carats, and sold 100 percent by volume.
The highest-grossing stones were a 256.6-carat and a 137.9-carat diamond, which sold for $4.40 million and $4.28 million respectively. An additional seven diamonds sold for more than $1 million each.
This is the company’s third tender of “exceptional” stones this year. The first and second, held in May and September respectively, both netted Lucara more than $24 million each.
Lucara is slated to hold one more tender during the fourth quarter, bringing the total volume of diamonds sold in 2013 to more than 420,000 carats.
The company also reports continued success in finding large stones from the Karowe Mine, including a 167-carat diamond and a 122-carat diamond, which will be sold on tender in 2014.
“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,” said Lucara President and CEO William Lamb. “Globally, diamonds above 100 carats are exceedingly rare yet since March alone Karowe has produced 16 diamonds greater than 100 carats each.”
Based in Vancouver, Lucara owns 100 percent of the Karowe Mine and has a 75 percent stake in the Mothae Project in the Kingdom of Lesotho.
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