Q2 2026 Lucara Diamond Corp Earnings Call
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Speaker #1: Anyone who has dialed in on the conference call may press * then 1 on your telephone keypad to join the question queue. I would now like to turn the meeting over to William Lam, President and CEO of Lucara Diamond Corp.
Speaker #1: Please go ahead.
Speaker #2: Thank you very much. And thank you, everybody, for joining Lucara's Q2 2026 press conference. I'm working on the call today. I have Glenn Condo, our CFO, and Hannah Rainish, our Manager Investor Relations.
Speaker #2: I do encourage you to go onto our website and just go through our cautionary statement. We will be making some forward-looking statements during the call, so please do that at your leisure.
Speaker #2: So Q2 for the company was actually a really good quarter. I think actually post-Q2 even better quarter. When we started to look at the ongoing recovery of our specials, our Tentstone over 1,000 carats for the 1,303 carats Type 2A whitestone, was recovered in July.
Speaker #2: Interestingly enough, the original announcement was 1,305 at 2-carat piece came off during the cleaning process, which is actually a good thing because it allows us to test the color of the stone and we can confirm that it is a Type 2A white diamond, which is very, very good for us.
Speaker #2: During the quarter, we also recovered 176 specials so even though we are reducing the volume of material being mined from the pits, we do see the continued recovery of these both from stockpile and from the residual that comes from the pits, which we can touch on later.
Speaker #2: And diamond revenues for the quarter were 41 million dollars. Almost comparable to 43. It is also important to note that the tender that we had during the quarter had a very low volume and Glenn will touch on that a little bit later.
Speaker #2: We have maintained our guidance for the year that is between 100 and 130 million dollars. And then obviously the most important thing, when we start to look at the future of the company, fantastic progress on the underground project.
Speaker #2: Specifically with the licensing of the man of materials winder, as well as the auxiliary winder. And it's interesting, I think when we start to look at when the project was started four years ago, when they broke ground, you had your precinct and the establishments of that.
Speaker #2: And the licensing of the winders that allows us to literally now three minutes to get underground is the culmination of an enormous amount of work.
Speaker #2: So I consider the licensing of both the man of materials and the auxiliary winder to be significant milestones. That has also allowed us now to get the equipment underground to start really focusing on the lateral development.
Speaker #2: And we'll see a couple of pictures on that later. And then of course the one thing that underlies what Lucara's always focused on is the safety record that we have.
Speaker #2: That has been maintained through the year, with very strong or the continued safety record for the project. So moving forward, I have already mentioned the 1,303 carats diamond.
Speaker #2: We are very interested to see that that has already been shipped off to HP. They are busy with their analysis and we'll see where that stone value comes out.
Speaker #2: Mentioned 176 specials. Aligned with what we've seen in previous quarters. So we are still seeing the recovery of plus 10.8 carat stones from the stockpile material as well.
Speaker #2: For the quarter, we recovered just over 90,000 carats of diamonds, 83 of those from direct milling. That's the run of mind that comes out of the pit.
Speaker #2: About 150,000 tons per month we're still planning on recovering from the pit. That runs all the way through until October. We should be shutting the pit down and then it'll be solely stockpile material.
Speaker #2: And we also did recover an additional 7,000 or just shy of 7,000 carats of diamonds from the historical tailings. These are recovery tailings, a material that has been through the X-ray machines.
Speaker #2: We do run that through a much more sensitive process, looking to recover the better quality stones, but obviously in the very, very small size fraction.
Speaker #2: So looking at lower value stones being recovered by that, but just shy of 7,000 carats recovered then. And as I mentioned, we are still mining in the open pit.
Speaker #2: Post the rains in Q1, we've still got access to material there. We're doing a lot of support just to make sure we are mining in a safe environment.
Speaker #2: And as I mentioned, the pit is expected to come to an end in Q4. Post that, we'll be running run of mind material until we start to see the initial material coming up from the underground.
Speaker #2: Glenn, if I pass over to you, please.
Speaker #3: Sure. Thanks, William. Q2 revenue was 41 million compared to 43.7 million in the prior year. The current period includes the sale of the Matsuidi but excludes the sale of the 37-carat blue stone and the 1,303-carat Type 2A stone.
Speaker #3: Although the Matsuidi was recognized as revenue during the quarter, it is expected to be monetized during the second half of the year. Q2 revenues were impacted by lower sales volumes of 59,000 carats compared to 77,000 carats in the prior year.
Speaker #3: This primarily reflects the lower tender volumes that we had of 53,000 carats during the quarter. We are, however, expecting approximately 108,000 carats to be available for our September tender.
Speaker #3: This is double the Q2 tender carats sold. The increase in carats is primarily due to the greater number of production weeks available compared with Q2.
Speaker #3: Our mind was 328,000 tons lower than the prior year. As William mentioned, we have recommenced going back into the open pit as of the end of March, and we're currently continuing to be there to the end of October.
Speaker #3: We are currently expecting to mine 150,000 tons per month from the open pit, which represents about 55 to 60 percent of monthly process volumes.
Speaker #3: Moving on to operating costs. Operating costs were 11.9 million versus 15.4 million in the prior year. The decrease was primarily due to lower mining costs as a result of the decreased mining volumes.
Speaker #3: And also non-cash movements in diamond inventory. This reflects an increase in unsold inventory compared with the prior year. If we look at year-to-date operating expenses, they were slightly higher at 33.5 million, versus 29.4 million in the prior year.
Speaker #3: The increase was primarily driven by one-off demobilization costs that we had during the first quarter. And we're experiencing slightly higher power and diesel costs to date.
Speaker #3: And we also had some non-cash capitalized stock inventory costs coming into operating expenses. These expenses were partially offset by the lower costs associated with the reduced mining volumes.
Speaker #3: So looking at our overall cost forecast during the year, the company still forecasts to be within our operating budget guidance of 27 dollars 50 cents to 31 dollars per ton.
Speaker #3: In terms of the underground project, it does remain on schedule with total remaining expenditures of 276 million as of July 1st. And that's consistent with our expectations.
Speaker #3: The major components of the remaining expenditure include 75 million for the lateral development contract. And 35 million for equipment, with the majority of the equipment already ordered.
Speaker #3: So we're quite confident in terms of a good portion of our expenditures have been accounted for. Overall, with the project, we remain on track and continue to manage the remaining expenditures in line with our plan.
Speaker #3: William, I'll turn it back to you for an update on the UGB.
Speaker #2: All right. Thanks, Glenn. When Glenn mentions that we are on track, we're on track with regards to mobilization of the lateral development. That's really when we look at the overall project being at that production level planned for Q2 2028.
Speaker #2: We did see let's call it marginal impact of the steel deliveries to site. That has delayed us mobilizing Group R underground. But with an optimization study that we did during the second quarter of the year, re-looking at the mining configuration as well as we didn't stop the lateral development while they were completing the steel work under the head frame.
Speaker #2: We have actually been able to do a lot more lateral development underground, making additional headings open, which will accelerate the mobilization and ramp up of Group R.
Speaker #2: Last two points there, specifically around the achievements of the bottom of the shaft. Those were milestones, but as I've mentioned previously, the last instinct of the conveyance is that now running those shafts is well in hand.
Speaker #2: We are looking to have the departments of mines back on site for licensing of the skips because these are the 21-ton skips before the end of August.
Speaker #2: And then maintaining our safety record now at 2,340 last time injury-free days. So since the project started a very, very good safety record. And this reflects both on the project and on the operations.
Speaker #2: When we start to look at the work which is required over the next two to three quarters, it's really going to be focused on the completion of the work on the shafts, as I mentioned, the skips.
Speaker #2: And I'm going to jump between two slides just now so you can see the difference in the steel work. But really focusing on getting the skips up and running that have been piloted down the shaft already, ABB will be on site fairly soon to do the decelerometer test.
Speaker #2: And then we'll have the department of mines coming in to license those ones. When I mentioned that lateral development has continued, to the end of July, we actually had more than a mile of lateral development already completed, with maybe seven or eight headings where Group R can actually start.
Speaker #2: Group R mobilized to site the 1st of August. And as of today, I've most probably already completed three or four blasts we are storing material underground for the licensing of those skips.
Speaker #2: So really looking at where we can actually optimize. But if I look at the just the August to the very first month, Group R only has a limited amount scheduled to complete and we already well ahead of that one.
Speaker #2: So the overall project schedule and cost, as Glenn mentioned, remains on track. And I'll just flip between these slides. If you look at the image on the right-hand slide, that is the actual operation shaft steel work.
Speaker #2: Next to it is the head frame bin. And if I just jump back one, you can see the difference, the shoots coming out there that is for the sinking configuration.
Speaker #2: So literally the entire center column had to be removed. It is all the screens, it's all the guards. And just as a point, if you consider the skips for the all transport are traveling at 14 meters per second.
Speaker #2: The alignment of the guards and the alignment of the guards, both for the conveyancers and everything else, it's a very, very tight tolerances that are required on those.
Speaker #2: So really making sure that that is actually set up. And when the DOM came in licensing was done very, very efficiently, which shows the quality of the installation there.
Speaker #2: The center picture there, looking really like a mine now, you can see the cable and the shaft just sitting above the gates there. All the safety signs, everything is in there.
Speaker #2: And then the two sunken rails the giraffe car sits on that, and that's what you use to actually transport material in and out of the shaft.
Speaker #2: Or into the slinging bridle. Picture on the top right-hand side there, those are the barrels for the vent shaft. You can actually see that coming into a V we are looking at having the vent shaft fully stripped from its sinking configuration and connection into the vent shaft, probably happening towards the end of September of this year.
Speaker #2: One of the key things that we needed to do as well was the management of water underground. We do have a surface lined pond.
Speaker #2: It's about 300 by 200 meters. Not an insignificant pond. It's nowhere near completed, but what we wanted to do was to install and actually commission the mechanical evaporator.
Speaker #2: So there's two of them up and running at the moment. They run them during the day. It is a bit of a challenge to consider just how much water is being evaporated through these systems when you have even in the winter, it's getting above 30 degrees Celsius.
Speaker #2: So we have a very high degree of naturally evaporation as well. So working around the math of that too. And then just a couple of pictures once the man of materials wander was licensed by the DOM, we started to move down the first two pictures there are the double boom jumbos going down.
Speaker #2: The picture on the right-hand side is the RT so really now mobilizing for full lateral development. If we had a decline much easier, but we needed to do a lot of these things before we could actually start to mobilize.
Speaker #2: And then one or two comments on the diamond market. And I think if you look at the news over the past quarter, even two quarters this year, there's been a number of mines which have gone into either financial protection or have just shut down.
Speaker #2: Venetia, the De Beers mine, where they've been working on the underground project for many years now, they've put that one on suspension. We had Finch the Petra mine, which was halted.
Speaker #2: And even the stuff when we're looking here in Canada, there were a couple of press releases from the mines up north. But when we look at the production from those mines, it's generally in the smaller size ranges.
Speaker #2: And that's been impacted directly by lab-grown or now not allowed to call them lab-grown. They're now called synthetic diamonds. But when we look at the production profile for Lucara, even with the material coming from the underground, we know that the underground is going to be better than the open pits.
Speaker #2: But we're going to have 70 to 80 percent of our revenue is going to be generated from stones five carats polished and above. And that is very, very significant when we consider the rest of the market's production.
Speaker #2: It does set Lucara aside. When you start to look at how our revenue is generated and the size of the diamonds that we actually have there.
Speaker #2: I'll cook the CEO for De Beers earlier in the second quarter mentioned a K-shaped recovery. It's fantastic for us because that top K, that line in the K, is actually where we are playing.
Speaker #2: And we are seeing higher percentage increases in the largest sizes than what we are in the lower ones. At a recent diamond sales and committee meeting, one of our sales agents out of Botswana mentioned that at the last De Beers site, there were double-digit increases.
Speaker #2: So 14 and 19 percent were the numbers which he had in categories where they have historically been very depressed through the impact of synthetic stones.
Speaker #2: So we are starting to see a recovery in the market both in these lower quality goods as well as obviously what we're seeing in the increase in the upper goods, which I think bodes very well for Lucara and the thesis for the underground mine.
Speaker #2: In terms of our overall guidance, nothing has changed there. Still looking to generate as mentioned, 100 to 130 million dollars worth of revenue excluding the legacy stones.
Speaker #2: And everything else just really remaining static. I think the important one there is the capital expenditure on the UGP still up to 110 million dollars.
Speaker #2: And then specifically on operating costs, we are trending as Glenn showed below what we have as guidance. But we do know we've got the ones of cost for demobilization of our mining crews sorry, the mining contractor towards the end of the year.
Speaker #2: As we ramp down operations in the open pit. That brings us to the end of our presentation. I'd like to thank everybody for taking the time to listen to the Lucara Q2 2026 results.
Speaker #2: I will now hand back to the operator.
