(IDEX Online) - Lucapa's mine at Mothae, in Lesotho, achieved its highest ever per-carat price in a sale earlier this month.
The Australian miner sold a parcel of 4,676 carats of rough diamonds for a total of $5.6m, averaging $1,198 per carat.
The sale included a Type IIa 101-carat D-color diamond announced last month and a number of other specials over 10.8 carats.
Lucapa Diamond Company Limited, which partners with the government of the Kingdom of Lesotho, said it was the highest average dollar per carat price achieved by Mothae on the sale of any run of mine production parcel.
Lucapa managing director, Stephen Wetherall said: "Following a tough 2020, where both of our mines (Mothae in Lesotho and Lulo, in Angola) were impacted by the pandemic, our valued teams have shown their resilience and operations have bounced back strongly.
"The good recoveries at both mines and growing demand leading to strengthening diamond prices has seen a strong start to 2021."
Pic, courtesy Lucapa, shows select D-color specials - weighing (from left) 14 carats, 19 carats, 101 carats and 28 carats...