Luanda: Lucapa said Sociedade Mineira Do Lulo (SML), a company it owns together with Angola’s Endiama and Rosas & Petalas , produced 5, 313 carats during the fourth quarter of 2016, which was an increase of 147 percent compared with 2,151 carats, a year earlier.
It said the recovered diamond grade jumped 88 percent to 10.6 cphm3 during the period under review from 5.6 cphm3 while the average diamond size rose 46 percent to 1.9 carats per stone from 1.3 carats per stone.
Total output for 2016 was up 136 percent to 19,833 carats from 8,394, a year earlier. The company also said 79 special stones were recovered during the fourth quarter compared with 28, a year earlier.
Meanwhile, SML raked in $51 million from the sale of diamonds last year, up 440 percent on the prior year, at an average price per carat of US$2,983 – the highest price per carat achieved for run of mine diamond production in the world for 2016.
It had a cash balance of $14.1 million as well as 2,921 carat unsold diamond inventory. SML also recovered large premium-value diamonds of up to 404 carats. Lucapa and its Lulo partners were now advancing their search to identify the primary kimberlite source or sources of these exceptional alluvial diamonds.
Lucapa was also conducting exploration programmes at two other projects – Orapa Area F in Botswana’s Orapa diamond field and Brooking in the West Kimberley lamproite province in Western Australia.
Both projects were considered prospective for diamond discoveries.
