(Ecofin Agency) - Yesterday, Lucapa Diamond announced that it had extracted the first diamonds of Mothae mine, that it owned at 70%. The largest of these stones extracted weighed 6.6 carats.

Lucapa indicated that the extraction was done with the existing bulk sampling plant and infrastructure, which it renovated sooner than announced in the framework of the sampling program. 

The company also said that works were ongoing at the 150th processing plant, including a large diamond recovery XRT system but the commissioning and commercial production are expected for the second part of this year.

Once operational, Mothae mine which has a 13.5-years lifetime should produce 498,000 carats annually.

Louis-Nino Kansoun