Lucapa Diamond sold 16, 408 carats for $13.1 million in the first quarter of 2024, compared to 13, 477 carats sold a year earlier for $18.2 million.
The first quarter revenue dropped 28% while the carats sold rose 22% year-on-year.
Lucapa Diamond’s 40%-owned Lulo mine in Angola sold 8,746 carats in the first quarter through two runs of mine sales for revenue of $9.4 million.
Company managing director Nick Selby said the separation of high-value stones for a tender meant revenue was down for the first quarter.
He, however, said the tender, which took place post-quarter end, realised $10.5 million for three high-quality Lulo diamonds, boosting the company’s balance sheet.
The cutting and polishing partnership produced $200,000 in additional margins for Lulo in the first quarter.
The Lulo mine produced 5,707 carats during the period, a drop of 20% compared to 7, 165 carats a year earlier.
Lucapa said mining was focused on the lower-grade terrace areas due to extremely heavy rainfall and subsequent flooding of the lizeria (floodplain) areas during the wet season.
The diamond grade recovered was 28% lower than the previous corresponding period, at 3.3 cphm3.
Meanwhile, its 70%-owned Mothae mine in Lesotho recorded $3.7 million in rough diamond revenue for the first quarter after selling 7,662 carats and an additional $ 200,000 from polished diamond margins.
The mine’s first-quarter output rose 13% to 8,454 carats from the previous year’s 7,485 carats.
“Although Lulo was forced to mine in lower-grade areas due to flooding this wet season, the amount of material we put through the plants was not affected due to the availability of stockpiled material,” said Selby.
“Mothae also performed well against physical targets, but the lack of high-quality stones recovered has negatively impacted their revenue line.”
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished
