Australian-based miner Lucapa Diamond Company has discovered 131-carat white Type IIa diamond at its Lulo site in Angola.
The company claims the large stone is the 29th diamond it has unearthed of more than 100 carats and the fourth 100+ carat diamond recovered at Lulo in 2022.
Lucapa Diamond Company Limited is listed on the Australian Stock Exchange.
Managing director Stephen Wetherall said, “We are extremely pleased with the recovery of another spectacular 100 plus carat Type IIa diamond at Lulo, which continues to illustrate the success of our long partnership with Endiama and Rosas & Petalas, the unique nature of the Lulo resource and the potential of the primary source exploration program.”
The Angolan Minister of Mineral Resources, Oil and Gas, Diamantino Azevedo said, “Angola has proven, yet again, its enormous diamond potential. I am absolutely convinced that with discoveries of this nature we will be, in the near future, among the biggest diamond producers in the world.
“Companies can always count on the Ministry’s full institutional support to ensure the proper performance of their operations.”
In July Lucapa unearthed a large 170-carat pink diamond from Lulo. The type IIa rough has been dubbed the Lulo Rose and is believed to be the largest pink diamond discovered in the past three centuries.
At the time Wetherall said, “Lulo is an exceptional alluvial resource and is truly a gift. We are once again made very proud by yet another historic recovery” he said.
While in December 2021 the company announced the acquisition of Merlin Diamond Mine in the Northern Territory. Rio Tinto previously operated the mine before North Australian Diamonds, also known as Merlin Diamonds, acquired it in 2004.
Merlin Diamond Mine is expected to be the biggest commercial diamond mining operation in Australia with a targeted yield of 153,000 carats per year when it begins full-scale production in 2024.
Overall, Lucapa aims to produce 2.1 million cars throughout Merlin’s expected 14-year ‘lifespan’ based on the company’s feasibility study, with projections centered on a combination of open pit and vertical mine development.
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