Lucara Diamond Corp. is a

diamond Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, ...

exploration and mining company, founded in 2009 by two Canadian mining executives, Eira Thomas, Catherine McLeod-Seltzer and Swedish-Canadian mining billionaire Lukas Lundin, operating in Southern Africa but established in Canada. In November 2015,

Lesedi La Rona 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, (formerly called AK6) in Botswana ...

, the world's second largest gem-quality diamond ever found, was found at the Karowe mine in Botswana.

Operations

Lucara owned a 40% share of the AK6

kimberlite Kimberlite is an igneous rock and a rare variant of peridotite. It is most commonly known to be the main host matrix for diamonds. It is named after the town of Kimberley in South Africa, where the discovery of an diamond called the Star of S ...

project (now the Karowe mine) in Botswana. In October 2010, Lucara bought African Diamonds, giving it a 100% share in the mine. The mine has an estimated $US2.2 billion of diamonds. AK6 is in the Orapa/

Letlhakane 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. Within 15–20 km of L ...

district. Other operations include the Mothae diamond project in Lesotho, where

processing began in June 2010, and where a 53.5 carat diamond has already been discovered; the Kavango project in Namibia; and planned mines and applications for mining licenses in Zimbabwe, Cameroon, and Botswana.

Noted stones

On 18November 2015, the company announced the discovery of the

, the world's second largest gem-quality diamond ever (second only to the 3,106 carat Cullinan). The type IIa diamond was found in the company's Karowe mine in north-central Botswana. The diamond weighs 1,111 carat and measures . A day later, two more diamonds weighing 813 and 374 carat, were also found. All the stones came from the AK6 pipe opened 18 months earlier, it has since yielded over 1 million carats of diamonds. The company has sold the 813 carat Constellation in May 2016 for $63.1 million and a 341.9 carat diamond in July 2015 for $20.6 million. The Lesedi has since sold for $53 million.

Company structure

Chairman of the board since 2010 is Lukas Lundin, son of Adolf H. Lundin the founder of Lundin Mining and

Lundin Petroleum Lundin Energy (former Lundin Petroleum) is an independent oil and gas exploration and production company formed from Lundin Oil in 2001 and based in Sweden with focus on operations in Norway. It is listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange. Lund ...

. The president and CEO of Lucara is Eira Thomas. As of January 2020 over half of the company's executives, in Botswana and around the world, were women. In March 2011, Lucara was reported to be discussing a merger with Gem Diamonds. After the discovery of the Lesedi La Rona, the company's shares went up 28%.

References

{{Reflist, 30em Companies listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange Mining in Lesotho Mining in Botswana Mining companies of Canada Non-renewable resource companies established in 2004 2004 establishments in British Columbia

Operations

Noted stones

Company structure

See also

References