Lucara Diamond Corp has announced the recovery of a 549-carat white diamond of exceptional purity from its Karowe Diamond Mine located in Botswana.
The unbroken 549-carat diamond is the fourth largest diamond recovered at Karowe. The mine has also recently discovered other high-value diamonds including the 1,758 carat Sewelô, the 1,109-carat Lesedi La Rona and the 813-carat Constellation.
Lucara said in a press release that this follows the recent recovery of a gem quality 176-carat stone from the same ore block. The EM/PK(S) continues to produce large gem quality diamonds in line with expectations and forms an important economic driver for the potential underground mine at Karowe, the statement said.
The EM/PK(S) has also delivered other high value diamonds including the 1,758 carat Sewelô, the 1,109 carat Lesedi La Rona, and the 813 carat Constellation diamond.
The 549-carat find was recovered in the MDR (Mega Diamond Recovery) XRT circuit that allows for diamond recovery post-primary crushing and prior to milling. It is the second diamond recovered from the MDR which was commissioned in 2017. To date, Karowe has produced 6 diamonds greater than 100-carats. Lucara will make a decision on the sale of the 176 and 549-carat diamonds in due course.
Eira Thomas, Lucara’s CEO commented;
“Lucara is extremely pleased to be starting off 2020 with the recovery of two, large, high-quality diamonds that builds on the positive momentum generated following the completion of a strong 4th quarter sale in December and the announcement of our groundbreaking partnership with Louis Vuitton on the Sewelô in January.
The unbroken 549-carat diamond is the fourth largest diamond recovered at Karowe and the first large gem to be recovered through the MDR. We look forward to continued success at Karowe and an exciting 2020.”
Source: lucaradiamond.com, BrandBotswana
