VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - March 16, 2011) - Lucara Diamond Corp. (TSX VENTURE:LUC) ("Lucara" or the "Company") is pleased to report that its 75% owned subsidiary, Mothae Diamonds (Pty) Ltd (Mothae) will be holding its first diamond sale during the period of March 21 to March 28, 2011 in Antwerp, Belgium. Mothae is offering approximately 8,500 carats of diamonds produced from bulk sampling and trial mining at the Mothae kimberlite in Lesotho.
The sale will be conducted by sealed tender in terms of an agency agreement between Mothae and A.G.M. Diamond Expertise and will be held at the offices of Bonas-Couzyn N.V. in Antwerp.
Mr. William Lamb, President and CEO of Lucara, commented, "This is an important milestone for the Mothae project as it will provide us with the first true price discovery for Mothae production and will greatly enhance our ability to understand the economic drivers for Mothae."
Mothae Diamonds (Pty) Ltd is conducting a trial mining program of up to 720,000 tonnes on the Mothae kimberlite in Lesotho. Lucara Diamond Corporation is a 75% shareholder in Mothae and the Government of Lesotho is a 25% shareholder. A 4% royalty will be payable to the Government of Lesotho based on the final sales proceeds.
Lucara is a well positioned emerging new diamond producer. The Company has an experienced board and management team with years of diamond development expertise. The Company's two key assets are the AK6 diamond mine in Botswana and the Mothae diamond mine in Lesotho. The 100% owned AK6 project is in the construction stage with mine commissioning scheduled to commence in the fourth quarter of 2011. The 75% owned Mothae mine is currently in the trial mining stage. Both Mothae and AK6 are world class assets with tonnage and throughput upside; diamond values from both could significantly increase with the continued recovery of Type IIA and large stones.
On Behalf of the Board,
William Lamb, President and CEO
Forward Looking Statements: This document contains statements about expected or anticipated future events and financial results of Lucara that are forward-looking in nature and are based on Lucara's current expectations, estimates and projections. This forward-looking information is subject to certain risks and uncertainties, such as legal and political risk, civil unrest, general economic, market and business conditions, the regulatory process and actions, technical issues, new legislation, competitive and general economic factors and conditions, the uncertainties resulting from potential delays or changes in plans, the occurrence of unexpected events and management's capacity to execute and implement its future plans. The actual results, activities, performance or achievements of Lucara may differ materially from those projected by management. A discussion of factors that may affect Lucara's actual results, performance, achievements or financial position is contained in the filings by Lucara with the Canadian provincial securities regulatory authorities on the system for electronic document analysis and retrieval ("SEDAR") at www.sedar.com.
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