GEMOLOGY

Lucara extends sales deal with HB by 10 years

Cecilia Jamasmie | November 17, 2022 |

A 393.5 carat top white Type IIa gem quality diamond dug up at Karowe. (Image courtesy of Lucara Diamond.)

Canada’s Lucara Diamond (TSX: LUC) has extended its sales agreement with HB Trading covering high-value diamonds from the Karowe mine, in Botswana, for another ten years.


The contract will see Lucara’s +10.8 carat production sold at prices based on the estimated polished outcome of each diamond. This is determined through state-of-the-art scanning and planning technology, with a true up paid on actual achieved polished sales thereafter, less a fee and the cost of manufacturing.

The company first partnered with HB in 2020 to sell Karowe’s large, high value diamonds. These kinds of gems have historically accounted for about 60% to 70% of Lucara’s annual revenues.

The fresh agreement extends this arrangement for ten years, Lucara said.

“For the first time in our ten-year history, we have insight on what becomes of each and every +10.8 ct rough diamond produced from our mine, participating in each step of the planning and manufacturing process right through to the final polished sale,” Lucara CEO Eira Thomas said in the statement.

The Vancouver-based miner is in the midst of expanding Karowe underground, with first production expected in mid-2026. The project will extend the mine’s life until 2040.

Karowe remains one of the highest-margin diamond mines in the world, producing an average of 300,000 carats each year.

Since beginning commercial operations in 2012, it has become the only mine in recorded history to have yielded two 1,000+ carat diamonds — the 1,758 carat Sewelô in 2019 and the 1,109 carat Lesedi La Rona in 2015, which sold for $53 million.

Massive emerald cluster sets new record at Gemfields auction

Cecilia Jamasmie | November 18, 2022 |

The Kafubu Cluster was found at the Kagem emerald mine in Zambia in March 2020. 

(Image courtesy of Gemfields.)

Africa-focused Gemfields (LON: GEM) (JSE: GML) racked up $30.8 million in revenue from its latest emerald action, which included a massive cluster of emeralds weighing 187,775 carats (37,555 grams).


The Kafubu Cluster, discovered at its Kagem mine in Zambia in March 2020, set a new record as the most expensive single emerald item ever sold by Gemfields, the miner said without providing specifics.

“Our end-of-year emerald auction has delivered a pleasing and solid result despite a clear softening of both prices and sentiment when compared with the remarkable highs we enjoyed in May 2022,” Adrian Banks, managing director of product and sales, said. “This has been a record-shattering year for Kagem with an amazing $149 million in auction sales.”

The coloured gems producer said proceeds will be reinvested in Zambia, including royalties due to the country’s government, which has a 25% stake in Kagem.

Zambian emeralds tend to have a higher iron content than emeralds from other origins, which means they are less fragile. High iron content also means fewer surface-reaching fractures and less need for treatments and enhancements.    

The 37.5 kg cluster set a record as the most expensive single emerald item ever sold by Gemfields. (Image courtesy of Gemfields.)