Lucara Diamond Corp. announce the recovery of a 1,174.76 carat diamond from its 100% owned Karowe Diamond Mine located in Botswana. The diamond, measuring 77x55x33mm, is described as a clivage gem of variable quality with significant domains of high-quality white gem material, and was recovered from direct milling of ore sourced from the EM/PK(S) unit of the South Lobe. The 1,174 carat diamond represents the third +1,000 carat diamond recovered from the South Lobe of the AK6 kimberlite since 2015 including the 1,758 carat Sewelô and 1,109 carat Lesedi La Rona.
The 1,174.76 carat diamond was recovered in the MDR (Mega Diamond Recovery) XRT circuit. On the same production day, several other diamonds of similar appearance (471 carat, 218 carat, 159 carat) were recovered at the main XRT circuit, indicating the 1,174 diamond was part of a larger diamond with an estimated weight of > 2000 carats. The MDR is positioned after the primary crusher, ahead of the autogenous mill, and is the first opportunity for diamond recovery within the circuit.
During an 11 day production run in June of EM/PK(S), which sourced the 1,174 carat stone, several other high quality white gems were also recovered (148 carat, 90 carat, 88 carat, 86 carat, 67 carat).
Diamonds recovered greater than 10.8 carat in weight accounted for 17.5% weight percent of total production during this period. Excluding the 1,174 carat diamond, the weight percent of +10.8 carat diamonds was in line with resource expectations. Continued strong resource performance and recovery of large diamonds reinforces the significance of the EM/PK(S) as an important economic driver for the proposed underground mine at Karowe.
Eira Thomas, CEO commented: “Lucara is delighted to be reporting another historic diamond recovery and its 3rd diamond over 1,000 carats, a world record for Karowe. Although complex, these diamond recoveries do contain large domains of top colour white gem that will be transformed through our partnership with HB Antwerp into valuable collections of top colour polished diamonds, very much in high demand in the market today. Besides the 1,174 carat stone, several other high quality white gems were recovered up to 148 carats in size, and year to date Karowe has produced 17 diamonds greater than 100 carats, including 5 diamonds greater than 300 carats.”