Lucara Diamond Corp.
Lucara Diamond is a diamond mining company whose sole operating asset is the Karowe Mine in Botswana, notable for recovering some of the largest gem-quality diamonds ever found. The company is developing the Karowe Underground Project to access the highest-value portion of the orebody and extend mine life to at least 2040 (mining license valid through 2046): pre-production capital of US$779 million, after-tax unlevered NPV at 8% of US$432.1 million, targeting >US$1.3 billion net income and ~US$4 billion in additional revenue over the extension (conservative diamond price assumptions). Underground development/stockpile processing runs 2026-2027, commercial underground operations begin 2028, full production 2028-2038, at a steady 2.85 million tonnes/year throughput. Lucara ended Q1 2026 with cash of $244.3 million (up from $31.9M at 31 Dec 2025) after fully repaying $220.0 million of project debt, following a C$165.0 million equity financing (Jan 2026) and a $350.0 million senior secured bond issuance (Mar 2026) to fund the underground project. Diamonds have no primary commodity tag, so the company is classed under Other, with its resource recorded in carats.
Notable vs. Peers
- Financials score of 1/10 is weaker than the peer average of 6.1/10.
- Trading within 4% of its 52-week low — weak recent price momentum.
Lifecycle Milestones
Construction Milestones
5 of 5 reached- Reached — date not disclosed · Source
- Reached — date not disclosed · Source
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- Reached — date not disclosed · Source
Milestones are recorded only from a company's own dated disclosure. A milestone with no date shown is one we can confirm was reached but for which no date was disclosed — we don't estimate one. "Not yet reached" means exactly that, not that a date is missing. An "Expected" line likewise only ever reflects the company's own guidance (e.g. a study or permit decision targeted for a stated quarter) — most not-yet-reached milestones have none, and that absence means no such guidance has been disclosed, not that one is overdue.
Jurisdiction (40%)8/10
Botswana has one of Africa's most stable, established, and mining-friendly governance track records (notably for diamonds, alongside Debswana/De Beers).
Infrastructure (40%)10/10
A confirmed mill, confirmed road access, confirmed grid power, and a confirmed tailings facility at Karowe Underground Project, Botswana.
Nearby producing mine (20%)9.9/10
Letlhakane (Debswana Diamond Company) is 22 km away -- within regional-platform range.
Acquisition Susceptibility
A relative ranking of how closely this company matches the profile of juniors that have actually been acquired — not a probability, and not a reason to buy. Acquisitions are rare: only a few dozen significant deals happen a year across a universe of thousands of juniors, so even a high score here describes a long shot. The strongest signal in the research, a producer that already owns part of the company, is scored from its disclosed strategic shareholders. A producer that is a joint-venture or earn-in partner on the project, rather than a shareholder, isn't captured yet.
How this score is built
- Disclosed pending dealSub-score: Not scored
No pending acquisition or merger disclosed (checked)
Not scored: having no deal in flight isn't held against a company.
Weight 26.25% - Producer's strategic stakeSub-score: Not scored
No producer holds a disclosed stake on file (holder register researched) See holders
Not scored: most juniors that do get bought had no prior toehold, so a missing stake says little either way.
Weight 25% - Distance to a producing mineSub-score:7.8/10
Nearest producing mine: Letlhakane (Debswana Diamond Company), 22 km
10 next to a producing mine, 8 at 20 km, 5 at 50 km, 0 beyond 200 km.
Weight 22.5% · 46% here - Lifecycle stageSub-score:5.5/10
Stage: Production
Feasibility and permitting score 10, where deals cluster, and production 5.5; earlier stages score less, down to 1 at grassroots.
Weight 15% · 31% here - JurisdictionSub-score:8/10
Botswana: jurisdiction score 8/10
Our jurisdiction score, used as is: higher means lower political and permitting risk.
Weight 6.75% · 14% here - CommoditySub-score:2/10
Primary commodity: Other
Gold 10, copper 8, silver 5, nickel and uranium 4, others 2: most majors' deals are for gold.
Weight 4.5% · 9% here
Weight is each input's share of the full score. “Here” is its share of this company's score: inputs that aren't scored are left out and the rest re-weighted, never counted as zero.
Your Rankings
Management Team
President and CEO of Lucara Diamond Corp.; also Chairman of the Board of Riley Gold Corp.
Chief Financial Officer of Lucara Diamond Corp.
Insiders, Investors & Smart Money
Notable shareholders and insiders whose involvement is worth knowing about, plus what we're seeing from institutional/large-investor activity.
Nemesia S.a.r.l., the Lundin family's private investment vehicle, is Lucara Diamond's largest shareholder at roughly 30.8%, built through a series of cash purchases including a fresh acquisition in January 2026. A Lundin family member personally bought shares on the open market in December.
No notable insiders tracked for this miner yet.
Reports, Presentations & Documents
Lucara Diamond operates the Karowe diamond mine in Botswana, its sole asset, known for recovering some of the largest gem-quality diamonds ever found; in Q2 2026 it recovered a 1,303-carat Type IIa diamond, Karowe's tenth stone above 1,000 carats. Open-pit mining is substantially complete and finishes in Q4 2026, and the Karowe Underground Project, with pre-production capital of US$779M, is on track for full-scale production in the first half of 2028, extending mine life to at least 2040 under a mining licence valid to 2046. The 2025 feasibility study for the underground project shows an after-tax NPV8% of US$432.1M. Karowe's indicated resource is 33.13 Mt at 16.2 carats per hundred tonnes for 5,358,000 carats, with a probable reserve of 4,547,000 carats.