Lucapa Diamond Company and its partner, the Government of the Kingdom of Lesotho, have provided an update on the first sale of diamonds in 2021 from the Mothae kimberlite mine in Lesotho.

The parcel of 4,676 carats of rough diamonds were sold for a total of US$5.6 million or US$1,198 per carat. This is the highest average US$ per carat price achieved by Mothae on the sale of any run of mine production parcel.

The sale included a number of Specials (diamonds weighing >10.8 carats), including the 101 carat D colour diamond recovered following re-opening of the mine in Q4 2020, which is the most valuable diamond recovered to date at Mothae.

Lucapa MD, Stephen Wetherall comments:

“Following a tough 2020, where both of our mines were impacted by the pandemic, our valued teams have shown their resilience and operations have bounced back strongly.

“The good recoveries at both mines and growing demand leading to strengthening diamond prices has seen a strong start to 2021.”

“We look forward to Mothae receiving further value following implementation of the cutting and polishing partnership and to completing the expansion at Mothae this quarter.”

Source: DCLA