Lucapa Diamond Company  and the Government of the Kingdom of Lesotho  have reported the recent recovery of a 25 carat yellow gem diamond from the Mothae kimberlite mine in Lesotho (“Mothae”) (Lucapa 70 per cent; GoL 30 per cent).

Significantly, the gem-quality Special (seen in the above figure) was recovered from the Neck Zone of the Mothae kimberlite, which is not part of the current +1 million carat JORC resource (Refer ASX announcement 24 March 2017).

The diamond was recovered within the first two days of trial processing through the bulk sampling plant after recent efficiency and security modifications. Following sign off of the modifications, Mothae will commence processing three 50,000 tonne bulk samples of kimberlite material from the Neck, North and South East Zones, with the aim of adding to the JORC resource and the mine life.

Other +5 carat diamond recoveries from the first two days of trial processing of material from the NeckZone include a 6 carat diamond.

Meanwhile, construction of the new 150 tonne per hour treatment plant with XRT large diamond recovery technology continues on schedule for commercial production in H2 2018.