VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - June 16, 2010) - Lucara Diamond Corp. (TSX VENTURE:LUC)("Lucara" or the "Company") is pleased to report that a 53.5 carat, white Type IIA diamond has been recovered in the first week of production at the Company's Mothae mine in Lesotho.
Kimberlite processing, which totals just 2,000 tonnes, commenced on Monday of this week. Production is currently being ramped-up to the design capacity of 1,000tpd.
Mr. William Lamb, President and CEO, commented, "Recovery of this 53.5 carat stone on initial start up at the Mothae mine is a huge win for Lucara and Mothae Diamonds. Results of initial sampling work at Mothae indicated that large diamonds are present but were being broken by the limited material size which the original bulk sample plant could process. As a single stone, this diamond is more than twice the size of any previous diamond recovered from Mothae. Management views this as early confirmation of our technical assessment of Mothae's potential and the operational approach we have taken to advance this exciting project."
The contents of this release have been reviewed and verified by Dr. Larry Ott a professional geologist and Lucara's V.P. Exploration, and by Mr. Anthony George, P. Eng, a mining engineer and Lucara's V.P. Development, both of whom are Qualified Persons pursuant to NI 43-101.
Lucara is an African focused diamond production company with currently two mines under development: the newly commissioned Mothae mine in Lesotho and the AK6 project in Botswana. Both projects are known for their large, high-quality, high-value diamonds including Type IIA stones produced from the Mothae mine.