Turkey top envoy goes to Niger in bid to secure uranium supplies
The trip comes after Niger’s military government withdrew mining rights from Canadian and French companies to develop uranium deposits.
Lucapa Diamond (ASX:LOM) said the Angolan Ministry of Geology and Mines has granted the company a two-year extension for both the kimberlite and alluvial licenses at the Lulo Diamond Concession in Angola.
The kimberlite and alluvial diamond exploration licenses, covering the 3,000-square-kilometer Lulo concession, have both been extended until May 25, 2016.
Lucapa Managing Director Miles Kennedy says that the license extensions represent “critical new milestones” for the Perth-based company as it “seeks to unlock the potential” of the Lulo diamond concession.
“Lucapa now has security of tenure over what we firmly believe is one of the most prized diamond concessions in the world,” says Kennedy, who adds that the license extensions enable Lucapa to accelerate the company’s goals of mining the alluvial diamonds at Lulo while also locating the primary kimberlite pipes within the concession.
According to Kennedy, the company will immediately commence processing of samples excavated from priority kimberlite pipes at Lulo through its new Dense Media Separation diamond plant.
The license extensions were signed by Angola’s Minister of Geology and Mines, Hon Francisco Manuel Monteiro de Queiroz, on May 26, 2014, in Luanda, and received by Lucapa on May 28, 2014.
Lucapa is the operator of the Lulo project in a joint venture with Angola’s state-run diamond company Endiama and private Angolan company Rosas & Petalas.
