Lucara shares surge on discovery of 1,111-carat diamond – by Ian McGugan (Globe and Mail – November 20, 2015)

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Lucara Diamond Corp.’s stock soared by as much as 37 per cent after the Vancouver miner said it had unearthed the biggest diamond to be found in more than a century.

The 1,111-carat, gem-quality stone is slightly smaller than a tennis ball. It was dug out of Lucara’s Karowe mine in Botswana.

The diamond, the second-largest in history, is one of several giant finds that the company has recently uncovered. Lucara, part of the mining and energy group headed by Lukas Lundin, also reported it had found an 813-carat stone that ranks as the sixth-largest ever discovered.

“These are very impressive discoveries,” said Matthew O’Keefe, a vice-president and senior analyst at Dundee Capital Markets. He credits the finds both to the unusual size of the stones in the Karowe mine and to Lucara’s use of new x-ray transmission technology, or XRT, that helps it identify big stones before they are broken in the milling process.

The jump in Lucara’s share price on Thursday provided a rare outburst of exuberance in the depressed commodity sector. Plunging prices for raw materials have battered miners, and diamond producers are no exception.

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