a couple of posts from you know Who Lucapa Diamond's shares trading higher on discovery from Lulo
11:30 13 Feb 2017 The latest recovery underlines the potential of the Lulo kimberlite drilling program
Lucapa Diamond's shares trading higher on discovery from Lulo
11:30 13 Feb 2017
The latest recovery underlines the potential of the Lulo kimberlite drilling program
Lucapa Diamond Company's (ASX:LOM) shares are trading 5.3% higher at $0.395 following the discovery of a 227 carat Type IIa D-colour gem from new mining area 28 at the Lulo Diamond Project in Angola.
The diamond was recovered by Lulo alluvial mining company Sociedade Mineira Do Lulo (Lucapa 40% owner and operator).
Stephen Wetherall, managing director of Lucapa, said he was delighted that after delivering the highest $ per carat prices from run of mine diamond production in the world in 2016, Lulo had continued to demonstrate its ability to produce world-class diamonds.
"It is fitting that within a week of the anniversary of recovering Angola’s biggest diamond, the 404 carat 4th February Stone, we have now recovered Angola’s second biggest diamond on record, our 227 carat Lulo gem.
"Both were recovered during the Angolan wet season.
"Significantly, it also reinforces the game-changing potential of the kimberlite program we are advancing at Lulo, which will soon involve three rigs drilling multiple priority targets in the very areas where we are recovering these large premium-value diamonds.
"The recovery of the 227 carat diamond through the new XRT circuit also vindicates our investment in this large diamond recovery technology, which will have more than paid for itself with the recovery of this one stone alone."
Diamond details The 227 carat Lulo diamond is:
- The second largest diamond recovered to date at Lulo behind the record 404 carat 4th February Stone recovered a year ago - also during the Angolan wet season;
- The biggest diamond recovered to date from the new XRT large-diamond recovery circuit recently installed at Lulo;
- The 7th +100 carat diamond recovered to date from Lulo; and
- The second biggest diamond recovered in Angola on record behind the 404 carat 4th February Stone, eclipsing the 217 carat Angola Star recovered in 2007 from the Luarica mine.
Prospectivity
Mining Block 28 is located 4 kilometres south of Mining Block 8 and a similar distance north of Mining Block 46.
This provides further evidence that the entire circa 50 kilometre length of the Cacuilo River within the 3,000 square kilometre Lulo concession hosts large, valuable diamonds.
Only around one-fifth of this area has been sampled by Lucapa and its partners.
Analysis
The latest recovery underlines the significant potential of the Lulo kimberlite drilling program, which aims to find the primary source of the large, high-value alluvial diamonds.
Broker Hartleys has a price target on Lucapa of $0.77 per share.
Earlier in the month the company and partners completed the first sale of Lulo diamonds for 2017, which delivered gross proceeds of US$3.8 million (A$4.9 million).
Lucapa also recently diversified and de-risked its diamond production with the acquisition of 70% of the Mothae Kimberlite Project, located in the Kingdom of Lesotho, Southern Africa.
