Shares in Vancouver’s Lucara Diamond Corp. (TSX:LUC) were up 5% Tuesday September 26, following the announcement that Lucara has sold its famous Lesedi La Rona diamond for US$53 million to Graff Diamonds.
While Lucara CEO William Lamb said in a press release that the price was an “improvement” on the highest bid received at auction last year, the highest bid price at a Sotheby’s auction last year was reported to be US$61 million.
Lamb told Business in Vancouver that the US$61 million cited at last year's auction was actually the highest price the auctioneer tried to get bids on, not the actual highest bid, which was only US$51 million.
"At the auction, there was actually only one bid at $51 million," Lamb explained in an email. "The auctioneer bids the price up against the house hoping someone will step in. He stopped at $61 million as any higher would have exceeded our reserve price. So even though it got to $61 million, the highest and only bid was at $51 million."
The US$53 million Lucara will receive for its 1,109-carat Lesedi La Rona is less than it received last year for a smaller 813-carat stone, which sold for US$63 million.
At 1,109 carats, the Lesedi La Rona is the second largest diamond ever unearthed. It was found on November 15, 2015 at Lucara’s Karowe mine in Botswana.
The diamond’s new owner, Laurence Graff, said the diamond will be cut.
“We are thrilled and honoured to to become the new custodian of this incredible diamond,” he said in a press release.
“The stone will tell us its story, it will dictate how it wants to be cut, and we will take the utmost care to respect its exceptional properties.”
