Lucara Diamond reports its results for the quarter ended March 31, 2024 – 1Q 2024. The Karowe Mine has operated continuously for over three years without a lost time injury. The recovery of a 320-carat top light brown gem quality diamond, a 166-carat Type IIa diamond, followed by the recovery of a 111-carat Type IIa diamond in Q1 2024.
In January 2024, the successful execution of an amended project financing debt package of $220 million (the Rebase Amendments) to amend the repayment profile in line with the rebase schedule released in July 2023 for the Karowe Underground Project (Karowe UGP).
On February 18, 2024, the Company announced the signing of a new ten-year diamond sales agreement (NDSA) with HB Trading BV (HB) in respect of all qualifying diamonds produced in excess of 10.8 carats from the Karowe Mine.
Total revenue of $41.1 million (Q1 2023: $42.8 million) was achieved in the quarter which is reflective of a combination of the timing of production and quantity of large goods recovered and delivered to HB.
During Q1 2024, a total of 93,560 carats of rough diamonds (Q1 2023: 83,374) from Karowe were sold through the Company’s three sales channels, generating revenue of $36.2 million before top-up payments of $4.9 million (Q1 2023: $34.7 million before top-up payments of $6.6 million).
Operating cost per tonne processed (1) was $26.00, a decrease of 2% over the Q1 2023 cost per tonne processed of $26.65. The continued impact of inflationary pressures, particularly labour, has been well managed by the operation. A strong US dollar (+5%) continues to offset a small increase in costs over the comparable period.
