Luanda: Lucapa Diamond Company said production from its Lulo mine in Angola reached its highest point yet for both total output and average size in the third quarter.

The alluvial mine yielded 8,853 carats in the three months that ended September 30 – representing a 154 percent jump over the same period a year ago, Lucapa reported.

The average weight of diamonds soared 62 percent to 1.9 carats per stone as 137 “specials” above 10.8 carats were extracted. These included white D-color stones weighing 173 carats and 104 carats and a 39-carat pink diamond.

Separately, Lucapa announced it agreed to acquire 80 percent of the Brooking Diamond Project in the West Kimberley lamproite region of Western Australia from current owner Leopold. The site is less than 40 kilometers from the Ellendale diamond field, a major source of rare, fancy yellow diamonds until its closure last year. The nearby Big Spring kimberlite cluster provided the first unequivocal evidence in 1976 of lamproite being a source rock for diamonds, Lucapa said.