Australian junior mining companies active in Lusophone Africa have reported good news from both Angola and Mozambique. The companies concerned are the Lucapa Diamond Company, operating in Angola, and Mustang Resources, active in Mozambique. Lucapa has announced that total diamond sales to date from its Lulo diamond mine in the western African country have exceeded A$100-million. On the other side of the continent, Mustang has announced the discovery of what it describes as a “spectacular high-grade graphite” deposit at its Caula project.

Lulo is located in Angola’s Lunda Norte province, some 630 km east of the country’s capital, Luanda. The concession is owned by local mining enterprise Sociedade Mineira do Lulo, which is a joint venture between Lucapa, Angola’s State-owned Empresa Nacional de Diamantes (Endiama) and local private sector company Rosas e Petalas. Lucapa is the biggest shareholder, with a 40% stake, and operates Lulo. Endiama holds 32% and Rosas e Petalas has the remaining 28%.

The passing of the A$100-million mark was achieved with the second sale of Lulo diamonds for this year. The sales package involved 1 552 ct of alluvial diamonds, which brought in gross sales revenues of A$9.1-million ($6.9-million). “This represents an exceptional average price per carat of $4 446 (A$5 836) for the sale, underlining the quality of the diamond recoveries and the continued strength in the market for large and high-quality production,” stated Lucapa in its announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange. “This brings the total gross proceeds achieved at Lulo to date in calendar 2017 to $10.7-million (A$14.0-million).” The mine has been operating since early 2015.

Mustang currently operates the Montepuez ruby project, in the Cabo Delgado province of Mozambique (not to be confused with UK miner Gemfields’ adjacent and earlier-developed Montepuez Ruby Mine). The Australian company is set to export its second parcel of rubies soon, amounting to 25 000 ct, which have been produced through the company’s current bulk sampling programme.

However, the company is also developing the Caula graphite project, in the Balama district, also in Cabo Delgado province. Caula is located along strike from Syrah Resources’ high-grade Balama graphite project, which is in an advanced stage of development and is scheduled to be commissioned during the second quarter of this year and start production during the third quarter. (Syrah is another Australian company.)

Diamond drilling at Caula has revealed grades of up to 26% of total graphitic carbon, which means it could become a low-cost supplier to the global lithium battery industry. The graphite was encountered over widths ranging from 14 m to 87 m (with drill inclines varying between 55º and 60º). Field assessment also indicated that the deposit could contain large flake sizes. Because of these results, the company took the decision to redesignate Caula – previously a site within Mustang’s Balama project area – as a project in its own right. The remaining sites within the Balama licence area will remain known as the Balama project.