Type | Public company |
---|---|
TSX: LUC | |
Industry | Mining |
Founded | 2009 |
Headquarters | Suite 2000 885 West Georgia Street, Vancouver, BC , Canada |
Key people | Lukas Lundin (Chairman) William Lamb (President and CEO) |
Products | Diamonds |
Revenue | $265 million (2014) |
$191 million (2014) | |
$45 million (2014) | |
Total assets | $317 million (2014) |
Total equity | $228 million (2014) |
Parent | Lundin Group of Companies |
Website | www |
Footnotes /references [1] |
Lucara Diamond Corp. is a diamond exploration and mining company, founded in 2009 by two Canadian mining executives, Eira Thomas, Catherine McLeod-Seltzer and Swedish-Canadian mining billionaire Lukas Lundin, [2] operating in Southern Africa [3] [4] but established in Canada. [5] In November 2015, Lesedi La Rona, the world's second largest gem-quality diamond ever found, was found at the Karowe mine in Botswana.
Lucara owned a 40% share of the AK6 kimberlite project (now the Karowe mine) in Botswana. In October 2010, Lucara bought African Diamonds, giving it a 100% share in the mine. [6] The mine has an estimated $US2.2 billion of diamonds. [7] AK6 is in the Orapa/Letlhakane district. [8]
Other operations include the Mothae diamond project in Lesotho, where kimberlite processing began in June 2010, [9] and where a 53.5 carat diamond has already been discovered; [10] the Kavango project in Namibia; [11] and planned mines and applications for mining licenses in Zimbabwe, Cameroon, and Botswana. [12]
On 18 November 2015, the company announced the discovery of the Lesedi La Rona, the world's second largest gem-quality diamond ever (second only to the 3,106 carat Cullinan). [13] The type IIa diamond [14] was found in the company's Karowe mine in north-central Botswana. The diamond weighs 1,111 carat and measures 65 by 56 by 40 mm (2.6 by 2.2 by 1.6 in). A day later, two more diamonds weighing 813 and 374 carat, were also found. [15] All the stones came from the AK6 pipe opened 18 months earlier, it has since yielded over 1 million carats of diamonds. [16] The company has sold the 813 carat Constellation in May 2016 for $63.1 million [17] and a 341.9 carat diamond in July 2015 for $20.6 million. [18] The Lesedi has since sold for $53 million. [19]
Chairman of the board since 2010 is Lukas Lundin, son of Adolf H. Lundin the founder of Lundin Mining and Lundin Petroleum. The president and CEO of Lucara is Eira Thomas. [20] [21] As of January 2020 over half of the company's executives, in Botswana and around the world, were women. [2]
In March 2011, Lucara was reported to be discussing a merger with Gem Diamonds. [22]
After the discovery of the Lesedi La Rona, the company's shares went up 28%. [23]
The Argyle Diamond Mine was a diamond mine located in the East Kimberley region in the remote north of Western Australia. Argyle was at times the largest diamond producer in the world by volume, although the proportion of gem-quality diamonds was low. It was the only known significant source of pink and red diamonds, and additionally provided a large proportion of other naturally coloured diamonds, including champagne, cognac and rare blue diamonds.
The Ekati Diamond Mine ("Ekati") is Canada's first surface and underground diamond mine. It is located 310 km (190 mi) north-east of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, and about 200 km (120 mi) south of the Arctic Circle, near Lac de Gras. Until 2014 Ekati was a joint venture between Dominion Diamond Mines (80%), and the two geologists who discovered kimberlite pipes north of Lac de Gras, Chuck Fipke and Stewart Blusson each holding a 10% stake in the mine, until Fipke sold his share to Dominion.
Debswana Diamond Company Limited, or simply Debswana, is a mining company located in Botswana, and is the world's leading producer of diamonds by value. Debswana operates four diamond mines in the eastern and central parts of Botswana, as well as a coal mine. Debswana is a joint venture between the government of Botswana and the South African diamond company De Beers; each party owns 50 percent of the company.
Letlhakane is a village in the Central District of Botswana. Letlhakane is the headquarters of the Boteti sub-district. It is located south of Mmatshumo and the population of the village was 22,911 in 2011 census.
Alrosa is a Russian group of diamond mining companies that specialize in exploration, mining, manufacture, and sale of diamonds. The company leads the world in diamond mining by volume. Mining takes place in Western Yakutia, the Arkhangelsk region, and Africa. Alrosa is Russia's leading diamond mining and distribution company, accounting for 95% of Russian diamond production and 27% of global diamond extraction.
Canadian diamonds are diamonds which have been mined in any one of the Provinces and territories of Canada. Diamond-rich areas weren't commercially extracted in Canada until the early 1990s. For the first 60 years of the 20th century, diamonds originated from kimberlite pipes and alluvial deposits in places such as Africa and some from South America. Later, diamond discoveries were made in the Soviet Union. Since the 1990s, major diamond discoveries were made and mining operations began. Canadian diamonds play a large role in the world market of diamonds.
The Letšeng Diamond Mine, found in the landlocked Southern African kingdom of Lesotho, is owned by Gem Diamonds, Ltd. and the government of Lesotho, and at an elevation of 3,100 m (10,000 ft) it is the world's highest diamond mine.
Firestone Diamonds plc is an AIM-listed United Kingdom-based company, operating in Lesotho and Botswana. In May 2018, the firm announced the appointment of Paul Bosma as CEO slated to succeed Stuart Brown on 1 July 2018.
Mmadikola is a village in the Central District of Botswana. It is located in the western part of the district, close to Makgadikgadi Pan, and it has a primary school. The population was 828 in 2001 census.
The mining industry of Botswana has dominated the national economy of Botswana since the 1970s. Diamond has been the leading component of the mineral sector since large-scale diamond production began in 1972 by Debswana. Most of Botswana's diamond production is of gem quality, resulting in the country's position as the world's leading producer of diamond by value. Copper, gold, nickel, coal and soda ash production also has held significant, though smaller, roles in the economy.
Gem Diamonds is a British-based global diamond mining business. It is headquartered in London and is listed on the London Stock Exchange. In 2017, the company generated a profit of $20.8 million.
Kelsey Lake Diamond Mine is a defunct diamond mine in Colorado, USA. It is located in the State Line Kimberlite District, near the Wyoming border, and consists of nine kimberlite volcanic pipes, of which two were open pit mined.
Graff is a British multinational jeweller based in London. It was founded by British jeweller Laurence Graff in 1960. A vertically integrated company, Graff operations comprise the design, manufacture and retail distribution of jewellery and watches.
The mining industry of Lesotho is mostly concentrated on diamond mining and as such the mining sector in the country has not played any significant role in furthering its economy. Apart from diamonds, the country's main mineral resources have been identified as base metals, clays, dimension stone, sand, gravel and uranium. The lack of initiative to extract other minerals commercially is mainly attributed to the inadequacy of infrastructure and finances. Between 2000 and 2011, the percentage of GDP contributed by diamond mining to Lesotho's economy rose from "virtually zero" to about 4%.
Lesedi La Rona, formerly known in media as Karowe AK6 or as Quad 1 by the personnel at the mine, is the fourth-largest diamond ever found, and the third-largest of gem quality. It was found in the Karowe mine, in Botswana on 16 November 2015.
The following lists events that happened during 2015 in Botswana.
The Sewelô diamond is the third-largest rough diamond ever found. The diamond was recovered in April 2019 by the Lucara Diamond Corp in its Karowe diamond mine in Botswana. The diamond is 1,758 carats and weighs 352 grams or 12.39 oz.
HB Antwerp is a diamond cutting and technology company based in Antwerp, Belgium. It was founded in 2020 by Shai de Toledo, Rafael Papismedov, and Oded Mansori.