Diamond miner Lucara Diamond Corp’s Karowe diamond mine, in Botswana, delivered another solid operational quarter for the period ending March 31, and the company’s high-value diamond production forecast remains robust, underpinned by its focus on operating practices, CEO and president William Lamb says.

Work on the underground expansion project at Karowe also progressed well during the quarter, the company points out.  

It avers that this key growth initiative remains on track with the rebased schedule and budget, positioning the company to access the higher-value ore from the underground portion of the orebody early in 2028.

In January, the company successfully executed the amended project financing debt package of $220-million to amend the repayment profile in line with the rebased schedule released for the Karowe underground project in July 2023.

In February, Lucara announced the signing of a new ten-year diamond sales agreement with HB Trading in respect of all qualifying diamonds produced in excess of 10.8 ct from Karowe.

The special (weighing more than 10.8 ct each) diamonds recovered at the mine during the March quarter included a 320 ct top light brown gem-quality diamond, a 166 ct Type IIa diamond and a 111 ct Type IIa diamond.

A total of 93 560 ct of rough diamonds recovered from Karowe were sold through the company’s three sales channels in the March quarter, generating revenue of $36.2-million before top-up payments of $4.9-million.

Total revenue of $41.1-million was achieved in the quarter, which Lucara says is reflective of a combination of the timing of production and the quantity of special diamonds recovered and delivered to HB.

While the diamond market remained relatively stable in the quarter, Lucara says it observed some cautious sentiment owing to the broader macroeconomic climate of high inflation and interest rates impacting on consumer demand in certain regions.

However, the fundamental supply and demand dynamics continue to favour natural diamonds over the long term as new mine supply remains constrained, it posits.

Lucara avers that it is well-positioned with its diamond production profile and process facilities and sales mechanisms to navigate this environment.

Operational highlights from Karowe for the period included ore and waste mined of 800 000 t and 200 000 t, respectively.

A total of 89 145 ct was recovered, including 7 534 ct from the processing of historic recovery tailings, at a recovered grade of 11.7 carats per hundred tonnes of direct milled ore

Karowe has operated continuously for over three years without a lost-time injury.

The 12-month total recordable injury frequency rate was 0.30 at the end of the quarter.

First-quarter pricing stabilised in smaller goods and increases of 4% were observed compared with that of the fourth quarter of 2023.

Revenue reflects the weighting of Lucara’s revenue towards larger goods where pricing is heavily impacted on by the individual goods delivered in a period, the company points out.

Operating margins of 51% were achieved.

Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation were $12.7-million.

Net loss was $7.9-million, resulting in a loss a share of $0.02.

At March 31, Lucara had cash and cash equivalents of $13.2-million.

No changes have been made to the guidance released in November 2023.

Diamond revenue is anticipated to be $220-million to $250-million; diamond sales 345 000 ct to 375 000 ct; and diamonds recovered 345 000 ct to 375 000 ct.