Lucara CEO Eira Thomas
Canadian company Lucara Diamond Corp, which operates the Karowe mine, in Botswana, has had stronger-than-expected finish to the year, with the final tender "reflecting a more stabilised market environment".
Lucara generated sales proceeds of $52.9-million in the final tender held on December 12, achieving an average price of $548/ct. The sales proceeds exceeded expectations by 16%.
The company sold 30 diamonds for more than $1-million each.
The December tender puts Lucara's 2019 revenue at $192.5-million, beating the 2019 revenue guidance of $170-million to $180-million.
"Though it is too early to call a trend, prices achieved in our final sale of the year reflect a stronger, more stabilised market environment and continued strong demand for Karowe diamonds,” said commented CEO Eira Thomas.
She added that Lucara was well positioned and highly levered towards further strengthening in diamond prices over the next 12 to 24 months, as supply constraints from large, maturing, mines began to manifest.
“This bodes well, not only for our current openpit operations, but also supports our plans for underground expansion to extend Karowe's mine-life to at least 2040, with the potential to generate an additional $4-billion in revenue."
On Wednesday, the world’s largest diamond miner De Beers, which also mines in Botswana, said that it too had seen signs of steady demand for rough diamonds, as well as continued polished diamond price stability.
However, for De Beers, the final diamond sight of 2019 capped a particularly tough year for the major, with its sales slumping by almost $1.4-billion in the 12 months. De Beers sold $425-million this month, bringing its total for 2019 to $4-billion. The December 2019 sale compares with $544-million a year ago.