Lucara Diamond, which officially launched its 100 percent owned Karowe Mine, in Botswana last week is set to auction 40,000 carats online in June.
The company said in a statement emailed to Rough & Polished that the commissioning activities at the Karowe mine were completed during April 2012 and the process facilities had been handed-over to operations.
It said ramp-up to full production was in progress with a target of 50 percent of the design throughput during May and 75 percent in June.
“Our focus will remain on the ramp-up activities which will culminate in sustainable operations at design capacity by the end of the quarter and the first cashflow from Karowe,” said Lucara chief executive William Lamb.
It said greater than 10,000 carats of diamonds were recovered from 28,000 tonnes of ore processed during April.
The ore mined during April had a resource grade of 34cpht, and the recovered diamonds had confirmed this, said Lucara.
It said the mine production plan for the remainder of 2012 included ore from the North and Centre Lobes, adding that it would deliver an average ore grade of approximately 20cpht.
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished
Exclusive
Dr M'zée Fula Ngenge: Demand for considerable-sized diamonds stronger than ever
The African Diamond Council (ADC) chairperson Dr M'zée Fula Ngenge told Rough & Polished’s Mathew Nyaungwa in an exclusive interview that although overall global diamond prices have been somewhat soft, the demand for considerable-sized diamonds...
02 september 2024
Amplats sees prospects as a standalone company
Anglo has revealed its plans to demerge Anglo American Platinum (Amplats), which has operations in South Africa and Zimbabwe, to optimise shareholder value. Rough&Polished contacted Amplats to comment on this and other issues but was referred...
19 august 2024
WFDB President Yoram Dvash Remains Confident Despite Global Diamond Challenges
Yoram Dvash is President of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB) having been elected in 2020. He found time in his busy schedule to speak to Rough&Polished about the state of the diamond industry around the world and some of the major...
12 august 2024
Lyudmila Vysotskaya: Amber is a mystical stone, a living substance
Lyudmila Vysotskaya is a Kaliningrad-based amber artist and designer, expert, chairwoman of the Amber Academy and member of the Creative Union of Artists in Decorative and Applied Arts. This summer, visitors could admire the art works by Lyudmila Vysotskaya...
30 july 2024
De Beers shines light on budding jewellery designers
Diamond giant De Beers will this year conduct its bi-annual Shining Light Awards jewellery design competition. De Beers beneficiation manager Kagiso Fredericks told Rough & Polished's Mathew Nyaungwa in an exclusive interview they set aside 4.5 carats...
22 july 2024
