Zimbabwe central banker stockpiles gold to bolster ZiG currency
The ZiG - short for Zimbabwe gold — is the nation’s sixth attempt at having a functioning local currency in the last 15 years.
Australia’s Lucapa Diamond (ASX: LOM) said on Tuesday it had sold a 3,617-carat parcel of rough diamonds dug up at its Mothae mine in Lesotho for a total of $1.5 million (around A$2 million).
Price per carat, the company said, reached $420 (roughly A$543), which brings the total sales achieved year to date from both Mothae and the Lulo mine in Angola to $22.5 million (about A$29.1m).
In line with a diamond sales and purchase agreement with Safdico International, a subsidiary of Graff Diamonds and diamond manufacturing and trading company, Lucapa said Mothae will receive a minimum average cash flow value of $630 (A$816) per carat for the first twelve months of the agreement.
The difference between the minimum average cash flow value and the selling price will then be recouped by Safdico from sales delivered in the future with an average price higher than $630 per carat.
Mothae, which Lucapa owns in partnership with the government of Lesotho, finishing ramping up operations in late March, as the company completed a plan to boost production by 45% to 1.6Mtpa.
