© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: An over 1,000-carat uncut stone by Lucara Diamond is pictured throughout a press availability in New York Metropolis, New York, U.S., September 20, 2021. REUTERS/David ‘Dee’ Delgado/File Photograph
By Brian Benza
GABORONE (Reuters) – Canada’s Lucara Diamond stated on Thursday it had ended its gem gross sales settlement with HB Buying and selling BV, a unit of HB Antwerp, in a transfer that would have an effect on a deal between the Belgian dealer and the federal government of Botswana.
“Lucara exercised its proper to terminate the settlement following a cloth breach of monetary commitments by HB,” the Toronto-listed miner stated in a press release, with out giving particulars.
HB was not instantly accessible to remark.
The 2 events first entered right into a diamond gross sales settlement in 2020, which was prolonged for 10 years in 2022. Beneath the deal, HB would purchase stones of 10 carat high quality and above from the Toronto-listed Lucara’s Karowe Mine in central Botswana at costs primarily based on the estimated polished worth of every diamond.
In March, the federal government of Botswana, the world’s No. 1 diamond producer by worth, stated it had agreed to purchase a 24% stake in HB Antwerp. As a part of the deal, state-owned Okavango Diamond Firm would provide HB with an undisclosed amount of tough diamonds for 5 years.
The federal government didn’t instantly reply to a request for touch upon whether or not that deal could be affected by Lucara’s transfer.
HB Antwerp has not too long ago been rocked by the removing of co-founder Oded Mansori from administration following variations over technique. Mansori, who co-founded HB Antwerp in 2020 with companions Shai de Toledo and Rafael Papismedov, stated he was taking them to court docket over his removing.
Lucara, which expects tough diamond output between 395,000 carats and 425,000 carats and income as much as $230 million this 12 months from Karowe, stated it might proceed to promote its stones via its Clara diamond platform, conventional tenders and “different value-added mechanisms”.