|
|
Lucara Supports Botswana’s Rough-Buying Bid
Sep 25, 2017 9:30 AM
By Rapaport News
|
|
|
RAPAPORT... Lucara Diamond Corp., which discovered the 1,109-carat Lesedi
La Rona almost two years ago, said a proposed law giving the Botswana
government priority to buy large rough diamonds would not affect the company.
A draft bill amending the Precious and Semi-Precious Stones
Act requires any mining company that obtains an “unusual” rough diamond to
notify the authorities within 30 days, Reuters reported last week. After this,
the government will have the first option to buy the stone “in accordance with
the current market price.”
The bill did not clearly define “unusual,” Reuters said.
However, Moses Tshetlhane, an officer in the Ministry of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources, told local newspaper Mmegi Online it referred to diamonds
with extraordinary carat weight, clarity or color.
Lucara agrees with the policy “as a way for both the
government and the company to achieve sustainable revenue at market prices for
the sale of its diamonds,” it said last week.
Lucara’s main diamond asset is the Karowe mine in Botswana,
which yielded the as-yet-unsold Lesedi La Rona in November 2015. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Tags:
Botswana, Karowe, Karowe mine, large diamonds, Lesedi La Rone, lucara, Lucara Diamond Corp., mining, Rapaport News
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|