Lucapa puts Lesotho diamond mine up for sale

15th May 2024 By: Mariaan Webb - Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor Online

Lucapa puts Lesotho diamond mine up for sale

The Mothae mine is situated in the Maluti mountains of Lesotho

Australia-listed Lucapa Diamonds on Wednesday announced the planned divestment of its 70% interest in the Mothae mine, in Lesotho.

This follows a review of the asset portfolio by the company’s newly structured board of directors.

“On review, it is clear the company should streamline the portfolio to focus on our core assets in Africa and Australia,” said chairperson Stuart Brown, referring to Lucapa's 60% interest in the Lulo mine, in Angola, and its Merlin diamond project, in the Northern Territory.

Brown stated that the Mothae plant had been optimised to recover large diamonds and that Lucapa expected significant interest from those in the diamond industry.

Mothae is an opencast mine, located in the diamond-rich Maluti mountains, which started commercial operations in 2019. It is known to produce large, high-value diamonds which command the second-highest dollar-per-carat for kimberlite diamonds worldwide.

Lucapa is finalising a data room for interested parties and said that it would prioritise the divestment process.