Lucapa Diamond Co. Ltd. said Feb. 24 that it recovered a 215-carat white diamond from its Mothae kimberlite mine in Lesotho.
The stone is the largest Type IIa D-color white diamond, the second diamond weighing over 200 carats, and the fifth diamond weighing over 100 carats recovered from Mothae since commercial mining started in 2019. This follows the recovery of a 101-carat white diamond in December 2020. Lucapa is aiming to further increase the recovery of such large diamonds. This objective is the primary reason for Lucapa's additional foreign direct investment, which seeks to increase output at Mothae by the end of the first quarter.
Lucapa Managing Director Stephen Wetherall said, “The continued recovery of large diamonds at Mothae validates the recent investment decision to expand capacity at the mine.
“Lucapa has now produced 23 +100 carat diamonds, four of which are greater than 200 carats (across the two mines) and we, together with the GoL as mine partner in Lesotho and Endiama and Rosas & Petalas as mine partners in Angola, look forward to many more such exceptional mining recoveries.” The ASX-listed miner owns a 70% stake in the Mothae mine, with the Lesotho government holding the remaining 30%.