HB Trading BV remained Lucara Diamond Corp’s largest revenue driver in the first quarter of 2026, accounting for the bulk of the company’s diamond sales despite weak production and declining revenue during the period.
The miner’s Q1 results show that the Antwerp-based diamond manufacturer contributed most of the company’s sales in the three months to March 2026, underlining a relationship that has become increasingly central to Lucara’s operations as it advances the Karowe Underground Project.
The latest results come less than two years after Lucara terminated an earlier sales agreement with HB in September 2023, citing what it described at the time as a material breach of financial commitments by the Belgian firm.
At the time, the Karowe diamond miner said it would revert to tenders and its Clara digital sales platform.
Lucara had initially signed a supply agreement with HB in 2020 under a model designed to move away from traditional rough diamond tenders.
Instead of selling large stones through auctions, Lucara agreed to supply diamonds above 10.8 carats to HB at prices linked to the estimated value of the final polished stones, with additional payments made once the diamonds were sold to end buyers.
The arrangement was expanded in 2021 and later converted into a 10-year agreement in 2022 before collapsing in 2023 after the breach dispute.
However, the split proved short-lived, as in February 2024, the two companies signed a new definitive sales agreement, restoring HB as Lucara’s main buyer under a revised version of the same polished-price model.
Since then, HB has repeatedly re-emerged as the dominant contributor to Lucara’s revenue.
For the 2024 financial year, HB contributed $142.8 million out of Lucara’s total revenue of $203.9 million, representing around 70 percent of group sales.
The performance was boosted by the sale of two diamonds, the 549-carat Sethunya and the 1,080-carat Eva Star, which together generated $54 million through the HB channel.
Additionally, of Lucara’s $159.7 million recorded in full-year 2025 revenue, $111.2 million came through HB.
The trend continued into the first quarter of 2026 despite operational difficulties at Karowe Mine.
Lucara reported revenue of $21.8 million for the quarter, down from $30.3 million in the same period last year, “due to unseasonal weather impacting open pit mining,” and forced the company to process lower-grade stockpile material.
Even under the weaker operating conditions, HB remained the company’s largest sales channel.
Tender sales fell to $7.2 million during the quarter from $9.3 million in the prior year period, while Clara digital platform sales declined to $1 million from $1.7 million.
Despite the weaker first-quarter revenue and rising operating costs, Lucara has maintained its full-year guidance, keeping projected 2026 revenue unchanged at between $100 million and $130 million as the company expects a return to open-pit mining later in the year.
In his commentary, President and CEO William Lamb noted that the successful financing of the Karowe Underground Project has strengthened the company’s balance sheet and provided flexibility to continue developing what he described as “one of the world’s most exceptional diamond assets.”
