Karowe diamond production exceeds over guidance!
Lucara Diamond reports its results for the year ended December 31, 2019 & that says, total revenues of $192.5 million generated over 2018 of $176.2 million. Earning in term of carat remained of $468 per carat over 2018 of $502 per carat, during fiscal year 2019.
Strong operational performance registered at Karowe, that is including record production through the plant in 2019, 1: Total tonnes mined of 9.8 million, 2: Ore and waste mined were 3.3 million tonnes and 6.5 million tonnes respectively, 3: Ore processed totaled 2.8 million tonnes, 4: 433,060 total carats recovered, including 29,990 carats recovered from previously milled material against the 2019 guidance of 400K to 425K carats.
2019 was another strong year for the recovery of Specials (single diamonds in excess of 10.8 carats) from direct milling ore with 786 stones totaling 24,424 carats recovered, including 31 diamonds in excess of 100 carats, of which 2 stones were in excess of 300 carats including the historic 1,758ct Sewelô diamond.
Specials were also recovered in treatment of historic, pre-XRT recovery tailings, including a 375 carat stone in Q3 2019. No further treatment of historic recovery tailings is expected. Net income for the year ended December 31, 2019 was $12.7 million ($0.03 per share) as compared to net income of $11.7 million ($0.03 per share) in 2018.
Eira Thomas, President & CEO commented: “Our strong operating results for 2019 reflect Lucara’s continued focus on safe, reliable operations which has delivered increased productivity at lower costs and provides a solid foundation to support our next stage of growth - an underground expansion at Karowe which has the potential extend our mine life to 2040, add net cash flow of $1.22 billion and gross revenues of $5.25 billion.
Our second business, Clara, continues to deliver solid results and is on track to steadily grow third party supply to the platform over the course of the coming year. In 2019 Lucara also continued to explore ways and means to maximize the value it receives for its diamonds. Our ground-breaking agreement with Louis Vuitton in January 2020 is another example of how we are delivering on this commitment.
Through this agreement, we will demonstrate that greater collaboration within the supply chain can unlock value and increase transparency from mine to consumer.”
