AGM, Miles Kennedy, Chairman- Lucapa Diamond Company Limited said, from an Alluvial exploration perspective, we drilled over 9,000 auger holes last year and excavated over 2,100 pits, which resulted in a new, updated JORC Classified Inferred Alluvial Diamond Mineral Resource of 2.6 million m3 of diamond bearing alluvial gravels, containing approximately 154,000 carats of diamonds at a modelled value of over A$3,000 per carat. That’s an average of 24 drill holes and 6 pits per day, for every day of the year. This is the 5th consecutive year that we have added to our diamond resource.”

In the speech he said, in context, since commercial mining began at Lulo in 2015 to end 2022, we have mined, recovered and sold over 167,000 carats for nearly A$0.5 billion from these alluvial gravels. With the expanded plant capacity at Lulo, it would take approximately 4 years to mine and treat the current 2.6 million m3 resource. This resource is expected to grow as we continuously and concurrently explore to add to our alluvial resources and we are going to be exploring the Lulo River for the very first time this year.

As you all may know, our Company funded 100% of the Lulo alluvial exploration and mine development. However, as we only have a 40% minority ownership we cannot consolidate our Angolan operations into our financial statements on a line by line basis, recording these only as investments or loans to be repaid from future production.

Looking at our growth objectives, as you know, we completed the acquisition of the Merlin Diamond Project in the Northern Territory in late 2021 for ~A$8.5 million. As you saw from the results of the Updated Scoping Study published in early 2022, it illustrated strong economics for a 14 year life at Merlin, delivering a production target of 2.1 million carats.

During the year, the team renewed the Mineral Lease to 2047 and signed all Native Title deeds of assignments.