Lucapa Diamond has resumed discussions with its Angolan partners to secure a majority stake in the 3,000km2 Lulo kimberlite exploration licence.
Lucapa currently has a 39% stake in the kimberlite exploration joint venture, while Endiama has a 51% controlling stake with the balance going to Rosas & Petalas.
Lucapa said it believes that securing a majority stake in the kimberlite exploration licence will open up opportunities to expedite the programmes aiming to identify the primary hard-rock sources of the exceptional alluvial diamonds being mined by SML at Lulo.
Meanwhile, the company said the clearing of the haul road to access the priority kimberlites in the Canguige catchment is completed and final capping of the road will be done using kimberlite sample overburden as sample excavation gets underway following the end of the wet season.
Bulk sampling of the prospective kimberlites within and adjacent to the Canguige catchment area and the remaining prospective kimberlites in the wider Cacuilo valley will commence following the end of the wet season and continue throughout 2021, it said.
Lucapa said kimberlite delineation drilling of the remaining high-priority targets in the Canguige catchment area was also completed.
At least 20 holes totalling 691 metres were drilled by quarter-end, leading to the discovery of one new kimberlite, L036 in the Canguige catchment area.
"Drilling is now continuing in the South East of the project area where a remote camp has been set up for the drilling crews," it said.
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished
Exclusive
Helga Pombal: Angola's Stardiam finds solution to the threat posed by lab-grown diamonds
Stardiam manager of production Helga Pombal told Rough&Polished's Mathew Nyaungwa on the sidelines of the Angola International Diamond Conference that lab-grown diamonds are creating a parallel market for more accessible stones, combined with lower...
11 november 2024
Ellah Muchemwa: ADPA to launch Africa's first diamond mining standard next year
The African Diamond Producers Association (ADPA), which is based in Luanda, Angola, and represents the interests of mainly African diamond producers and those with the potential to produce diamonds, will next year launch the Sustainable Development...
04 november 2024
Dmitry Fedorov: I want our jewelry to be displayed at a museum in the future
Dmitry Fedorov is the founder of the eponymous jewelry house. His main focus is the creation of Orthodox-inspired premium luxury jewelry of high artistic merit. He told Rough&Polished about his journey in the jewelry industry, about choosing the ‘Orthodox...
28 october 2024
Responsible business practices ‘no longer optional’, says WDC President Feriel Zerouki
The president of the World Diamond Council takes time out of her busy schedule to tell Rough&Polished readers about the critical work of the WDC. Zerouki, the first female present of the body, which includes all the important industry organizations among...
14 october 2024
James Campbell: Botswana Diamonds optimistic as it enters uncharted territory of using AI for mineral exploration
London-listed Botswana Diamonds has expressed optimism about the company’s use of artificial intelligence (AI) to scan the exploration database in Botswana to look for new mineralised deposits. Company managing director James Campbell told Rough...
07 october 2024
