Lucapa Diamond Company Limited  today announced the discovery of a new alluvial source of large and premium-value diamonds at the Lulo diamond project in Angola.

Noting that Lulo is  “the world’s highest average US$ per carat alluvial production” Lucapa   said that, so far, diamonds from the mine “have been sourced predominantly from the terrace deposits along the Cacuilo River valley”.

Recently, Lucapa and its partners (Empresa Nacional de Diamantes E.P. (Endiama) and Rosas & Petalas)   at  Lulo    began exploring the  “extensive flood plains (leziria areas)” along the  50km stretch of Cacuilo River valley within the Lulo diamond concession,  the Company said.  This was done to determine whether these areas  also contained  exceptional alluvial diamonds.   

“The positive results from the first of these flood plain areas tested – adjacent to Mining Block 31 – where regular Specials (diamonds >10.8 carats) were recovered, demonstrate the potential to open additional and expansive new mining areas at Lulo,” Lucapa stated.   

The exploration results, as enumerated by the Company, include:

• 17 Specials, including an exceptional 55 carat Type IIa D-colour white  

• A total of 1,502 carats recovered so far from 11,155 bulk cubic metres processed, achieving a diamond grade of 13.5 carats per 100 cubic metres   

“Given the results from the flood plains adjacent to Mining Block 31, Lucapa and its partners will continue testing other flood plain areas at Lulo in parallel with alluvial mining activities in established areas,” the Company concluded.

Pic Cap: The 55.3 carat Type IIa D-colour white diamond which is the largest special recovered  from flood plains adjacent to Mining Block 31 in the Lulo