VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - June 14, 2010) - Lucara Diamond Corp. ("Lucara" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:LUC) is pleased to announce that diamond production has commenced from the Company's Mothae mine in Lesotho.
Mining operations commenced in late May establishing kimberlite stockpile feed for the diamond recovery plant. Planned upgrades to this plant have been completed on time and within budget. Plant commissioning is underway with the process feed rate expected to ramp up to design capacity of 30,000 tonnes per month within the next 30 to 45 days.
All diamond recovery units are functioning well and provisional audit work on x-ray tailings indicates a high level of recovery efficiency which was a key objective of the plant upgrade.
Mr. William Lamb, President and CEO, commented, "This is a major milestone for the Company. The diamond information which will be collected during the trial mining phase is essential for Lucara as we drive Mothae forward. The progress which has been made is a testament to the excellent work done by our team in Lesotho. We are looking forward to realizing the value of the Mothae diamonds when we have our first tender in the fourth quarter of this year."
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.
On Behalf of the Board,
William Lamb, President and CEO