Lucapa Diamond Company has announced that it has identified a confirmed kimberlite at the Mining Block 8 alluvial diamond field at its Lulo project in Angola. The Block has already yielded large alluvial diamonds including rare D Colour Type IIA gems and fancy colours.

In a statement released yesterday, Lucapa said that L259 is now shaping up as a large kimberlite structure, with kimberlite material so far discovered in pits more than 1km apart.

Lucapa said it has also significantly expanded the alluvial grades at Mining Block 8, which will remain the focus of future alluvial diamond production operations at Lulo.

Pitting and exploration programmes are now being accelerated at L259 ahead of bulk sampling to determine diamond content.

According to Lucapa chief executive Stephen Wetherall, the latest developments are significant milestones. “This makes L259 a compelling target as we close in on our major goal at Lulo, which is to find the primary kimberlite source or sources of the exceptional alluvial diamonds we are recovering on a daily basis. The area we have recovered kimberlite material from in our ongoing pitting program also suggests this to be a significantly sized kimberlite.”