Canada-based miner Lucara Diamond Corp is on track for a solid year, with sales from its large, high-value diamonds continuing to achieve healthy prices, despite recent market softening, president and CEO Eira Thomas reported on Wednesday.
The company sells its gem and near-gem diamonds greater than 10.8 ct under a committed supply agreement with HB Trading.
In the third quarter, Lucara recognised total revenue of $39.9-million, including the sale of 99 301 ct from the Karowe mine, top-up payments of $9-million and $3.4-million from the sale of third-party goods on the fully-owned Web-based digital sales platform, Clara.
In the comparative quarter, the company achieved revenues of $72.7-million, which included $72.5-million from the sale of 117 162 ct from Karowe, in Botswana.
For the nine months ended September 30, a total of 245 764 ct were sold from Karowe at an average price of $528/ct, generating revenue of $129.9-million before top-up payments of $33.8-million.
Thomas added that the Clara platform continued to make good progress, adding third-party supply from both producer trials and secondary market sources. Third-party supply now accounts for more than 40% of sales on Clara.
Lucra said that despite the overall decrease in revenue recognised in the third quarter, the diamond market fundamentals continued to support healthy prices as steady demand and some inventory shortages were reported.
The company affirmed its revenue guidance of $195-million to $225-million and its operating cost per tonne would be at the low-end of the 2022 guidance of $29.5/t to $33.5/t.