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Lucapa Recovers Largest Diamond Ever from Lulo Mine in Angola
Jan 24, 2016 8:33 AM
By Rapaport News
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RAPAPORT... Lucapa Diamond Company recovered a 133.4-carat
diamond from its Lulo Diamond Project in Angola, the largest so far from the
mine as it eclipsed a previous record of 131.4 carats set in 2012.
The diamond is “not of high quality,” the miner said in a
statement January 22.
The discovery comes after heavy
rains restricted access to the company’s planned mining areas during the fourth
quarter to December 31. Lucapa assigned earth-moving equipment to higher-lying
areas of interest to trial new mining blocks. One of these new areas was Mining
Block 6. In the first few days, Lucapa recovered diamonds weighing 133.4
carats, 29.2 carats, 12.37 carats and 11.1 carats.
The
29.2-carat and 11.-1 carat stones are both D-color, gem-quality diamonds,
according to the Yehuda diamond colorimeter.
The miner
has already recovered six ‘specials’ weighing 95.5 carats, 53.2 carats. 32.2
carats, 24.5 carats, 13.7 carats and 10.9 carats from the nearby lower-lying
BLK_6 and BLK_19 alluvial exploration bulk samples. This underlines Mining
Block 6’s potential as a significant source of large alluvial diamonds, the
company said.
In addition, Mining Block 6 has to date
been accessible during the heavy rains experienced at Lulo, enabling mining and
processing of gravels to continue during the Angolan wet season.
“We are certainly excited by what we are seeing at Mining
Block 6 where our management exploration target is to prove up sufficient
gravels to incrementally add up to 12 months of alluvial diamond production,”
said Lucapa’s chief executive officer Stephen Wetherall.
“The fact the 133.4-carat stone is a compound diamond which is unlikely to
have travelled very far from its primary source – and its relative downstream
proximity to Mining Block 8 and our high-priority kimberlite targets – we
believe is very significant.”
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Tags:
Angola, large diamonds, lucapa, Lucapa Diamond Company, Lulo, Lulo Diamond Project, Rapaport News
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