Diamond miner Lucapa Diamonds has issued a “maiden Joint Ore Reserves Committee-compliant resource estimate for the Mothae kimberlite pipe” in Lesotho, Mining Weekly reports.
Mothae, which is located located about five km from the Letseng mine, contains an estimated a total of 1.04-million carats to a depth of 300 meters. The resource estimate assigns an average value of $1,063 per carat, “which the company ascribes to the presence of high value Type IIa diamonds”, according to the report.
Last week, it was reported that Lucapa has signed an agreement with the Government of Lesotho to acquire a 70% interest in Mothae Diamonds. Following the agreement, which was signed after the issuance of a new ten-year mining licence to MDL for Mothae, Lucapa appointed three of its representatives to the board of MDL and has paid $400,000 to the government of Lesotho – the first payment of its 70% interest.
In Early February, Lucapa said it plans to bring the project into production within 12 months, “under staged low-risk development strategy”.
