LUCARA ANNOUNCES UPDATED FEASIBILITY STUDY FOR KAROWE UNDERGROUND PROJECT

VANCOUVER, BC, March 13, 2024 /CNW/ – (TSX: LUC) (BSE: LUC) (Nasdaq Stockholm: LUC)

Lucara Diamond Corp. (“Lucara” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce the filing of a technical report (the “Report”) for the updated Feasibility Study (“FS” or “Study”), prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (“NI 43-101”) on its Underground Expansion Project (“UGP” or “Project”) at the Karowe Diamond Mine (“Karowe”) located in Botswana. The Report is titled “Karowe Mine – Botswana 2023 Feasibility Study Technical Report”, with an effective date of June 30, 2023, and was prepared for Lucara by JDS Energy & Mining Inc. The Report is available under the Company’s profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca or from the Company’s website at www.lucaradiamond.com. View PDF

Karowe is located in north-central Botswana, one of the world’s most prolific diamond producing areas, and is a producer of large, high value type IIa diamonds and the only diamond mine to have produced four diamonds in excess of 1,000 carats in size. The underground expansion at Karowe is expected to double the mine life, and to generate significant revenue and cashflow out to 2040, extending benefits to the Company, its employees, shareholders, communities surrounding the mine, and Botswana. The Report provides an update to the 2019 underground feasibility study (“2019 FS”) and 2021 financed base case to reflect changes to project duration, capital expenditure, and technical updates to the Project. All amounts are in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted.

COMBINED OPEN PIT/ UNDERGROUND HIGHLIGHTS

• Extending mine life by 15 years;

• Total life of mine (“LOM”) diamond recoveries of 6.8 million carats;

• Operational highlights include ~42.4 million tonnes of ore mined and ~52.2 million tonnes of ore processed;

• Highest value EM/PK(S) unit of the South Lobe is the dominant rock type mined over the LOM of the underground; a significant source of many large high value diamonds, including the 1,109 carat Lesedi La Rona, the 549 carat Sethunya, and more recently the 1,080 carat Type IIa white stone recovered in August 2023;

• Pre-production capital costs for the UGP totalling $683 million, to be expended over an eight-year pre-production construction and commissioning period until H2/2027, of which three and a half years have already been successfully completed;

• The UGP is projected to generate $1.1 billion in cash flow;

• Fully financed project as announced on January 9, 2024 (link to Press Release), when the Company amended its debt package that was originally entered into in 2021; and

• The amended facilities consist of a project finance facility (“Project Loan”) of $190.0 million (previously $170.0 million) to fund underground development, and a $30.0 million (previously $50.0 million) senior secured working capital facility (the “WCF”) which is used to support ongoing operations along with operating cash flow from the Karowe open pit.

Story continues

William Lamb, President and CEO of Lucara Diamond Corp., commented: “Lucara is excited to share the updated Feasibility Study for the Karowe Underground Expansion Project, which reinforces our strategic decision to extend mine life and continue to generate benefits for our stakeholders. Karowe is a world-class mine, and we look forward to continuing to recover large, exceptional diamonds from the South Lobe at Karowe.”

This report is updated from the original 2019 UGP FS (link to Press Release) and 2021 financed base case (link to Press Release) and encompasses the following significant modifications:

• Project construction progress (surface infrastructure and underground development) to June 30, 2023;

• Revised economic modelling with updated diamond prices and exchange rates, exclusion of sunk costs and inclusion of financing costs;

• Re-baselining the UGP schedule and as a result, the open pit mine and processing facility production plans;

• Re-estimation of the current operations budgets and project capital and operating cost projections;

• Modifications to the mine design;

• Fine tailings storage and management;

• Advancement of detailed engineering designs;

• Re-modeling of the hydrogeological conditions;

• Underground dewatering and grouting methodology; and

• Groundwater management on surface.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

• The UGP is focused on the South Lobe of the AK06 kimberlite;

• The UGP is designed to support operation of a 2.7 million tonnes per annum underground mine and processing plant;

• 8.5 metre finished internal diameter Production Shaft approximately 767 metres deep equipped to hoist a nominal 7,400 tonnes per day of ore and additional development waste;

• 6 metre finished internal diameter unequipped Ventilation Shaft with a planned final depth of 729 metres;

• Extraction of approximately 400 vertical metres of the…