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REGIONAL ROUNDUP

A polished start for Lucapa

iamond market doldrums appear to polishing, combined with the successful fair market, we can then take that stone
Dhave dissipated for the time being start to operations at Mothae has been and put it into cutting and polishing and
and Lucapa Diamond Company Ltd is game-changing for Lucapa. extract that value,” Lucapa managing di-
poised to bask in the warming climate. Prior to the start of commercial dia- rector Stephen Wetherall told Paydirt.
The company’s first foray into cutting mond operations from the 1.1 mtpa Moth- “Secondly, it starts to open new mar-
and polishing under partnership agree- ae kimberlite in January 2019, Lucapa’s gins for us in that we start attracting pol-
ments, whereby net profits from sales of single producing asset was Lulo in An- ished margins into our group as well. It is
polished diamonds are split evenly with gola. Now the company has two valu- a dual strategy; protect the rough price,
the diamantaire, started promisingly with able sources to produce diamonds and but also start to accrete some of the pol-
an exceptional 8.88ct Pear diamond pro- the freedom to exploit the value-chain ished margins from these magnificent
duced from a 36ct rough stone extracted through cutting and polishing. stones that we mine.”
from Mothae, Lesotho. “It allows us to ensure that we get the In the face of stiff headwinds for dia-
Law changes enacted in Angola two appropriate rough price for our diamonds mond sales prices during 2019, Lucapa
years ago, permitting companies like Lu- at whatever sell channel we choose. If soldiered on to commission its second
capa to enter the sphere of cutting and we believe that the rough price offered is mine in Mothae (70:30 Lucapa/Govern-

Page 66 FeBRUaRY 2020 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT