Mothae first diamond deal 2021!

Sales rough worth US$5.6m at US$1,198 per carat

Lucapa Diamond Company Limited and its partner, the Government of the Kingdom of Lesotho, are pleased to provide 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 (A$7.2 million) or US$1,198 per carat (A$1,537 per carat). This is the highest average US$ 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 Managing Director, Stephen Wetherall commented “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 & polishing partnership and to completing the expansion at Mothae this quarter.” Lucapa is a niche diamond producer with high-value mines in Angola (Lulo) and Lesotho (Mothae). 

The 1.1Mtpa Mothae kimberlite mine in diamond-rich Lesotho commenced commercial mining and processing operations in January 2019. It produced >30,000 carats in its first year of production, and 4 +100 carat diamonds to date.