Australia’s Lucapa Diamond (ASX:LOM) has found a 64 carat precious stone it’s calling the “best quality” diamond mined to date at its Mothae mine in Lesotho, Africa.
The 64-carat type IIa gem received a D color rating, meaning it’s colourless and extremely rare.
According to the company, the finding continues to underline the large-stone nature of Mothae’s kimberlite resource.
In late May, Lucapa recovered a 126 carat diamond from the same mine. That is the largest gem the miner has found at the Lesotho-based project, which is a joint venture between Lucapa (70%) and the Lesotho government (30%).
The Perth-based company acquired Mothae in early 2017 with commercial production beginning in December last year, via a new 1.1 million tonne-per-year plant that is progressively ramping up to its nameplate capacity.
The mine is currently expected to yield 22,000 carats per year.
Mothae is located just 5km from Letšeng, the world’s highest dollars-per-carat kimberlite diamond mine.
