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.
Canada’s Lucara Diamond Corp. (TSX:LUC) renewed its revolving term credit facility with the Bank of Nova Scotia (Scotiabank) for a three-year term and an increased limit of $50 million.
The facility would contain financial and non-financial covenants customary for a facility of this size and nature, and the applicable interest rate of any loan under the facility would be determined by the company’s leverage ratio at any given time.
“While Lucara continues its strong cash flow generation the credit facility provides for future risk mitigation and allows the company to react quickly to potential growth investment opportunities,” said president and CEO William Lamb in a statement Monday.
The southern Africa-focused precious gem producer has discovered rare diamonds in the past including a 9.46-carat blue diamond that fetched $4.5 million in 2012.
Lucara share performance has outpaced competitors such as U.K.-based Petra Diamond Ltd. and Gem Diamonds last year and the miner is reportedly on the hunt for new properties.
Vancouver-based Lucara’s two key assets are the Karowe Mine in Botswana and the Mothae Project in Lesotho. The 100% owned Karowe Mine is in production. The 75% owned Mothae Project has completed its trial mining program.
