Lucapa Diamond announced Monday the recovery of the fifth +100 carat diamond found this year, a 176 carat Type IIa gem diamond from the Lulo alluvial mine in Angola.
The 176 carat diamond is the 45th +100 carat stone to be recovered from Lulo and the eighth largest, since alluvial operations began in 2015, the company said.
In 2021, Lucapa announced a 35% increase in the resource carats at Lulo, and the mine’s in-situ resource now sits at 135,900 carats at a modelled average diamond value of $1,440/carat.
176 carat diamond recovered from Lulo mine in July. Image from Lucapa.
The continual recovery of these and other large, high value diamonds has been a major source of revenue for Lulo over the years – in December 2023 Lucapa fetched $17 million for four diamonds recovered from Lulo – as well as being a major informant to the kimberlite exploration program.
Lucapa continues to hunt for the source of these large gems via the kimberlite exploration program which is currently bulk sampling kimberlitesin close proximity to the mining blocks where the 176 carat diamond was recovered.
“The recovery of this 176 carat diamond is yet more confirmation of the massive potential of the kimberlite province where we are focussing our exploration efforts to find the source(s) of these magnificent gems. As can be seen from the image below, the diamond has not travelled far as it still displays sharp, angular edges,” Lucapa CEO Nick Selby said in a news release.
The firm has a 40% stake in Lulo, which hosts the world’s highest dollar-per-carat alluvial diamonds. The rest is held by Angola’s national diamond company (Endiama) and Rosas & Petalas, a private entity.
Source: mining.com