Gaborone: Lucara Diamond Corp.’s July tender of exceptional stones achieved $68.7 million, or $41,028 per carat. The tender featured 14 single stone lots from Karowe production, all of which were sold. A 341.90-carat, type IIa rough diamond sold for $20.6 million and a 269.70-carat stone sold for $16.5 million. In all, 12 diamonds fetched prices above $1 million.

William Lamb, Lucara’s CEO and president, said, “This is another amazing result, demonstrating not just the sustainable quality of the diamonds being produced but also the robustness of the exceptional stone market. The sales values achieved for the two large stones demonstrates the quality of diamonds which the south lobe is producing. We will continue to work on optimizing our sales strategy to obtain the best value for these diamonds and for our shareholders.”

Lucara Diamond controls full interest in the Karowe mine in Botswana and a 75 percent stake in the Mothae project in Lesotho, which recently completed a trial mining program.