Lucapa, an Australian mining company, has successfully closed a significant diamond sale totaling $10.5 million from the Lulo alluvial mine located in Lunda Norte, Angola. This transaction, facilitated by Angola’s state-owned diamond trading company Sodiam, involved the sale of three diamonds with a combined weight of 361 carats, fetching an average price of $29,000 per carat.
The trio of diamonds comprised specimens weighing 203 carats, 116 carats, and 42 carats, respectively, with the largest among them ranking as the fifth largest ever to be retrieved from the mine. Identified as Type IIa stones, these diamonds marked Lucapa’s inaugural Lulo Mine tender for the year 2024.
This sale comes amidst a series of notable discoveries at the Lulo mine in recent months, including a 203-carat diamond found in March 2024 and a 235-carat diamond uncovered in November 2023—the second-largest ever unearthed at the mine. In total, the mine has yielded over 40 diamonds weighing over 100 carats, with four exceeding 200 carats in weight.
Lucapa, operator of the mine, holds a 40% interest, while the remaining shares are divided between Angola’s state-owned diamond corporation Endiama and the private company Rosas & Petalas. This successful sale underscores the ongoing productivity and lucrative potential of Angola’s diamond mining sector.
