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Lucara Foresees Improvement at Karowe
Dec 3, 2017 7:15 AM
By Rapaport News
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RAPAPORT... Lucara Diamond Corp. is predicting a rise in rough-diamond production and
sales next year due to increased mining in the higher-value section of its
Karowe mine.
Revenue should be between $170 million and $200 million in
2018, the miner said last week — compared with the $165 million to $175 million
that the company expects to bring in this year. Estimated production and sales
volume for next year is 270,000 to 290,000 carats versus a forecast of 260,000
to 270,000 carats this year.
Lucara recently cut its forecast for this year as sales slumped 20% in the first nine months due to delays in getting the operations of its new mining contractor, Aveng Moolman, off the ground. The Canada-based company had initially projected revenue of $200 million to $220 million from the production and sale of 290,000 to 310,000 carats this year, but last month lowered these expectations.
The sales predictions for both years exclude proceeds from
exceptional diamonds, such as the 1,109-carat Lesedi La Rona, which Lucara sold
to Graff Diamonds for $53 million in September.
Up to 85% of the ore Lucara processes next year will come
from the Botswana-located Karowe mine’s south lobe, which tends to yield better-quality and
higher-value diamonds than the rest of the asset, the company projected. The
producer will also continue to extract waste material to enable it to access
that area in full, Lucara CEO William Lamb noted. |
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Tags:
Aveng Moolman, Graff Diamonds, Karowe, Karowe mine, Lesedi La Rona, lucara, Lucara Diamond Corp., mining, Rapaport News, William Lamb
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