DiamondBuzz
Lucapa Secures Majority Stake in Angola’s Lulo Mine
Lucapa Diamond Company, an Australian Securities Exchange (ASX)-listed diamond miner, has finalized its mineral investment contract (MIC) for the Lulo joint venture (JV) in Angola, increasing its stake in the project to 51%. The contract is now awaiting formal signature by the Angolan Ministry of Mineral Resources and Petroleum.
The Lulo JV, which focuses on exploring kimberlites at the Lulo concession, has seen Lucapa raise its ownership from 39% to a majority share. The contract finalization followed a three-day meeting in Angola, where Lucapa, along with JV partners Endiama, Rosas & Petalas, agreed on the remaining details.

Lucapa’s Managing Director and CEO, Alex Kidman, commented on the development, stating: “Securing a majority stake in the Lulo exploration JV is a critical milestone for Lucapa, as it will provide us with an increased share of any exploration success. The finalization of the MIC is something our shareholders have long awaited. This progress highlights Angola’s commitment to Lucapa and to the Lulo project, one of the most prominent diamond ventures in the country. We’re excited to continue working with our partners to uncover the source of Lulo’s extraordinary diamonds.”
Currently, the kimberlite bulk sampling program is underway at the Lulo concession, with stockpiling of samples from L130/01. Additional samples are being prepared from promising sites, including L349, L137, and L130.
Earlier in May 2024, Lucapa Diamond announced plans to divest a 70% interest in its Mothae diamond mine in Lesotho.
DiamondBuzz
De Beers Group Sets Out Portfolio and Organisational Actions to Support Long-Term Value Creation
Company outlines strategic cost optimisation, portfolio streamlining and operational changes to strengthen resilience while positioning for long-term growth in the natural diamond industry.
De Beers Group is advancing delivery of its business streamlining by setting out a number of planned portfolio and organisational changes to ensure an efficient cost base that strengthens resilience in the near-term while enhancing future competitiveness and retaining optionality as industry conditions improve.
Since 2024, De Beers has been streamlining its business in line with its Origins strategy to reduce costs, divest non-core assets and prioritise investment in activities that create the most value. Significant progress has been made, with more than $100 million of annual overhead costs removed from the business, the sale or closure of a number of non-core assets and significant capital and cost reconfigurations to asset expansion projects.
Simultaneously, De Beers has reinvested in natural diamond category marketing to support the industry’s efforts to grow natural diamond demand, launching new large-scale campaigns and collaborating with key stakeholders across the value chain to foster industry-wide investment. Global consumer demand for natural diamond jewellery returned to growth in 2025, while natural diamond sales increased across US independent jewellers in 2025 and into Q1 2026, led by higher value diamonds and those promoted by De Beers’ Desert Diamonds marketing campaign.
On the supply side, global rough diamond production is now decreasing, with several producers closing mines during 2026. Whilst the increasing rarity of diamonds and the emerging signs of improvement in consumer demand are likely to support longer-term value creation, rough diamond trading conditions are expected to remain challenging in the near-term due to cyclical and industry-specific factors.
Consistent with recent actions to improve business resilience, De Beers intends to pause production at the Venetia mine in South Africa for two years to reduce costs while also rephasing capital expenditure on its underground project. This will involve critical infrastructure investment to enhance the capacity and efficiency of the mine, with the intention to support future production growth as business and industry conditions improve.
De Beers is engaging with stakeholders in accordance with relevant requirements and the company’s values as it moves through this process, and will both support impacted employees and continue to invest in its community and Social and Labour Plan commitments.
This proposed action at Venetia Mine follows the decision earlier this year to pause the Tuzo Phase 3 expansion project at the Gahcho Kué Mine in Canada.
In parallel, De Beers plans to reconfigure its global operating model to refocus and prioritise resources on the core operational businesses and reduce its central corporate cost base.
Al Cook, CEO of De Beers Group, said:

“In line with our commitment to focus and streamline our business, we are making a number of changes to De Beers to ensure greater business resilience in the near-term, while supporting long-term value creation. We recognise the protracted challenging conditions as the diamond industry evolves, though we are encouraged by signs of consumer demand growth in the US and beyond, particularly in higher quality diamonds.
Global rough diamond supply is falling, bringing more support to the market. The changes we are making to our business are focused on underpinning our efficiency now and into the future, favourably positioning De Beers in its leadership role.”
De Beers Group will maintain current production levels through its other operations, and previous production guidance remains unchanged.
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