Episode 146: Natural and synthetic diamond markets can coexist, ft Lucara Diamond CEO Eira Thomas

This week’s episode features an interview with Lucara Diamond president and CEO Eira Thomas on what the company is doing to respond to challenges in the diamond market, including competition with synthetic diamonds, as well as the need for consolidation in the diamond space, and why the company plans to maintain its 7% dividend. The interview was conducted by Dean McPherson, TMX Group head of business development for global mining, at the 2019 Canadian Mining Symposium, which took place at Canada House in London in May 2019. Topics include: the benefits of running a company with women in 80% of leadership roles; synthetic diamonds as an entry-level product into the diamond market; the pitfalls and benefits of M&A; and how the company plans to remain profitable in a challenging space. This podcast is sponsored by the Yukon Mining Alliance (www.yukonminingalliance.ca). Music Credits: “Miami Nights – Main Theme” and “Hiding Your Reality” by Kevin MacLeod (www.incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/