90% resource increased in Lulo

Situ resource increased

up to 80,400 carats at Lulo

The Lulo Diamond Resource was independently estimated and reconciled on a depletion and addition basis as at by external consultants Z Star Mineral Resource Consultants (Pty) Ltd. The updated Lulo Diamond Resource was estimated after accounting for, 19 months of mining depletion at Lulo to 31 December 2018, during which time >30,000 carats of diamonds were recovered and sold for ~US$62 million.

The definition of additional resources and improving knowledge on existing resource areas from an extensive ongoing resource-definition drilling and sampling program which included an additional 4,200 auger holes that is of 36K metres drilled and diamond sales at prices above the previous resource estimate dated 31 May 2017.

Notwithstanding the depletion of >30,000 carats from mining referred to above, the updated Lulo Diamond Resource contains a 90% increase of in-situ carats to 80,400. This total equates to more than four times Lulo’s production of 19,196 carats in calendar 2018, which was the fourth year of commercial production at the alluvial mine.

In addition, the average US$ per carat value for Lulo diamonds modelled by Z Star in the updated Lulo Diamond Resource is US$1,420 per carat, a 17% increase on the previous modelled estimate of US$1,215 per carat. Overall sales of Lulo diamonds to date total ~US$141 million at an average price per carat of ~US$2,100.

Lucapa Managing Director Stephen Wetherall said the updated Lulo Diamond Resource represented the results of another significant exploration work stream undertaken by the Lulo partners in parallel with the alluvial mining and kimberlite drilling and sampling programs.

“Together with the significant positive diamond marketing reforms introduced in Angola enabling producers like Lulo to achieve international market prices for their diamonds, the near doubling of in situ resource carats in the upgraded Lulo Diamond Resource supports the Lulo partners’ plans to increase alluvial production in 2019,” said Mr Wetherall.