VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - July 15, 2011) - Lucara Diamond Corp. (TSX VENTURE:LUC) ("Lucara" or the "Company") reports that construction of the AK6 diamond mine in Botswana has been proceeding on schedule to date and is well over 60% complete at this point. However, the current industrial action in the South Africa steel industry has resulted in delays to steel deliveries for the project.
The industrial action is now in its second week and the National Union of Metal Workers of South Africa (NUMSA) are considering the latest offer from the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of South Africa (SEIFSA) over the weekend. The industrial action has, however, spread to other industries, which is impacting electrical equipment supply and transportation.
The full impact on the construction schedule will not be known until the industrial action ends. In the interim work continues on site, delivered steel is being erected and project schedule tasks re-prioritised to mitigate, as far as possible, the impacts of future delayed deliveries. The Company will issue further updates as material information becomes available.
William Lamb, President and CEO, commented, "We are obviously concerned with the events in South Africa and hope for a speedy resolution to the industrial action. We will be working closely with our EPCM partners to minimize the impact on the project schedule."
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.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.