Lucapa Diamond Company Limited has announced that it surpassed the Q1 mining and processing targets set at the Lulo diamond project in Angola and is on track to develop cash flow positive operations by the end of Q2 as planned. Lucapa, along with two partners, secured a 35-year mining licence in November.

Alluvial mining operations had commenced on the site in January 2015, and in the period ending March 31, the company had produced a total of 1,317 diamonds weighing 1,335 carats for an average stone size of 1.01 carats per stone. The diamonds included large  specials (>10.8 carat) including individual stones weighing 26.7 carats, 23.45 carats, 20.35 carats, 19.85 carats, 15.1 carats, 12.7 carats, 11.95 carats and 11.55 carats. As with previous recoveries, several of these special stones were confirmed as rare Type IIa gems.

The company said that the recovered diamond grade of 10.34 carats per 100 cubic metres (cphm3) achieved during the March 2015 quarter is consistent with the average bulk sampling results from the areas mined.

During the current quarter the company will also be mining gravels from the high grade BLK_08 and BLK_06 & 19 areas, where the largest and most valuable diamonds were recovered during the alluvial bulk sampling phase. Factoring in the mining of these high grade areas, Lucapa and its partners are targeting an overall average grade of 15 cphm3 for the Phase 1 alluvial diamond mining plan (January 2015 to March 2016).

Lucapa CEO Stephen Wetherall said: “We are extremely pleased to have exceeded our throughput targets for the first three months of diamond mining at Lulo during the challenging conditions of the Angolan wet season.”