Lucapa to apply for alluvial diamond Mining Lease

Lucapa Diamond Company Limited announced that it has received the support of its Joint Venture partners to apply for an alluvial diamond Mining Lease over part of the Lulo Diamond Concession in Angola.

The decision to apply for an alluvial Mining Lease is a result of the high grades and diamond values being achieved by Lucapa from its diamond exploration programs within the 3,000 kilo meter Lulo concession. A sale has been approved of a second parcel of diamonds recovered from Lulo, which consists of diamonds weighing a total of 371.35 carats and independently valued at $3.164 million, or $8,521 per carat.

According to Lucapa, "It must again be emphasised that the potential quantity, grade and diamond value described in this Exploration Target is conceptual in nature and that at this stage there has been insufficient exploration to estimate a Mineral Resource and that it is uncertain if further exploration will result in the estimation of a Mineral Resource."

Lucapa believes the MLA could host economic alluvial diamond deposits containing at least half a million carats of diamonds with a value of US$500/carat. The company considers this a viable exploration target and has commenced the Economic Viability Technical Study (EVTS) and Environmental Management Plan (EMP) required under Angolan regulations. Lucapa says that the timing of the granting of any MLA is uncertain.

Therefore, in the meantime, Lucapa will undertake a program of exploration pitting and bulk sampling to attempt to define a Mineral Resource. The extent of the exploration program required will be continually re-evaluated to ensure that it is relevant to local conditions. In general, exploration pitting will be completed on lines 200-400m apart with pits every 25m to 50m. One or two bulk samples of 200 to 500 tonnes will be excavated for each kilometre of channel length identified.