Lucapa Diamond Company has reported a notable increase in rough resources at its Lulo deposit in Angola, with a surge of 48% recorded in 2023. This surge comes as the miner identified new material, extending the deposit’s production life by an additional eight years.
According to the company’s announcement on Monday, the volume of diamonds with a reasonable prospect of economical extraction rose to 228,000 carats as of December 31, up from 153,870 carats the previous year. The assessment of the asset was independently conducted by South Africa’s Z Star Mineral Resource Consultants.
The study appraised the resources at $1,897 per carat, marking a 5% decline from $2,000 in December 2022. This decrease partly reflects a softening trend in diamond prices observed during 2023. Although the diamond grade experienced a slight decrease to 4.55 carats per 10 cubic meters, the company anticipates recovering 45% more stones, totaling 181,900, with an average rough size of 1.26 carats per stone, compared to 1.23 carats in the previous year.
Lucapa highlighted that this increase signifies the sixth consecutive year of growth in Lulo’s carat resources. Cumulatively, the total production from Lulo has reached 200,000 carats, generating $426 million in sales at an average price of $2,122 per carat.
