Photo by: Lucara Diamond Corp
TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – A special tender of 14 diamonds from Lucara Diamond Corp's Karowe mine, in Botswana, has sold for $22.9-million, or $20 280/ct, the company announced on Tuesday.
The tender comprised a total of 1 028 ct, and the highest value stones sold were a 256.6 ct gem that sold for $4.4-million and a 137.9 ct stone that sold for $4.28-million. Seven more diamonds sold for more than $1-million each.
Lucara said it planned to hold one more regular tender during the fourth quarter, bringing the total volume of diamonds sold in 2013 to more than 420 000 ct as forecast.
The company also announced that the Karowe mine continued to produce exceptionally large stones, including a 167 ct diamond and a 122 ct diamond, which would 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. Globally, diamonds above 100 ct are exceedingly rare, yet since March alone, Karowe has produced 16 diamonds greater than 100 ct each,” president and CEO William Lamb said.
Earlier this month, Lucara reported revenues of $50.9-million, or an average of $625/ct during the quarter ended September 30, of which $10.9-million was received in October for its late September tender.
At average operating expenses of $110/ct, the cash operating margin for the quarter was $515/ct. Sales during the quarter included one tender of over 80 000 ct and the company's second exceptional stone tender.
For the third quarter, Toronto- and Gaborone-listed Lucara reported net earnings of $15-million, or $0.04 a share, compared with a loss of $3.4-million, or $0.01 a share, a year earlier.