On February 25th, Canadian mining company Lucara Diamond acquired Clara Diamond Solutions to boost diamond provenance, integrity, and transparency in their supply chain.Clara uses analytics with cloud and blockchain technologies to modernize the current diamond supply chain. While this process improves overall efficiency, the increase in transparency helps the Canadian mining company attract a younger generation of buyers. The acquisition of Clara Diamond Solutions also diversifies Lucara’s existing business model and supports Lucara’s reputation as an industry leader.In a separate press release, Lucara also announced the recent appointment of Eira Thomas as its new chief executive officer (CEO). Lucara co-founder Catherine McLeod will also be joining the board of directors.Lucara appears to be following the same footsteps as DeBeers, which is currently working on a pilot platform to track their supply chain. Diamond companies and producers are looking towards blockchain technology as a solution to improve the transparency and traceability of diamonds in the supply chain.
Although Clara Diamond Solutions is a secure digital sales platform, its main asset is a specialized program that uses algorithms to match rough diamond producers to manufacturers on a stone by stone basis. The platform also uses blockchain technology to allow buyers to source the rough diamonds through the supply chain. The ability to match and source individual diamonds provides a greater level of assurance to consumers about the source of their diamonds and also results in improved margins for buyers and sellers.“Consumers want to know that their diamonds are produced from mines that are good stewards of the land, that have social policies, that are progressive, that we think about our contributions to our communities,” said Thomas.Lucara purchased Clara for 13.1 million shares of Lucara worth $29 million USD (approximately $36.8 million CAD). Further staged equity payments totalling 13.4 million shares are payable upon performance milestones. These milestones achieved relate to revenue generated through the platform. The Canadian mining company intends to commercialize the Clara platform in the next few months. Lucara will scale the Clara platform to accommodate the diamond uptake from different sources across the supply chain.
Lucara also recently appointed Eira Thomas as their CEO, effective from February 26th. Thomas has over 25 years experience in the mining industry, including 16 years with Aber Diamond Corporation (now Dominion Diamond). At Aber, she served in a variety of roles from initial discovery as a geologist to the vice president exploration and eventually, a director of the board. "I would like to welcome Eira into her new role of CEO of Lucara and commit my support to the ongoing and long-term success of the Company as we work to execute on an exciting new growth opportunity with the acquisition of Clara Diamond Solutions,” said Lukas Lundin, Chairman of Lucara Diamond. “We believe that Clara will not only modernize the entire diamond sales process but unlock additional value for all participants across the diamond market. Given Eira's deep understanding of our business and her relationships across the diamond world, she is uniquely positioned to lead both Lucara's operating business and this exciting new initiative.”Image credit: Wikimedia Commons
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