Lucapa Diamond Company aims to raise US$60,000 (A$5.7 million) to push forward its exploration project at the Lulo diamond concession in Angola.

The company began drilling last month. Before that, among diamonds that it found was a 131-carat stone that appears to be a rare Type IIa diamond.

Independent Diamond Valuers gave the stone a US$3.5 million value, and after looking at the other diamonds as well said that the Lulo project could produce diamonds of a quality that was much higher than the average of global output.

Lucapa's original drilling program aimed to identify the source or sources of the large gem-quality alluvial diamonds the company has already discovered.

The company is to conduct a low-level aeromagnetic survey that includes a 725 square kilometer strip close to where the 131-carat diamond was found. Lucapa said it expects the survey to increase the number of priority kimberlite areas to be drill tested.

The Lulo project is a joint venture between Lucapa and state-owned diamond company Endiama, which is the exclusive concessionary for Angolan diamond mining rights.

Lucapa holds a 40-percent stake in the concession relating to alluvial finds (39 percent for kimberlites), with Endiama and private Angolan firms holding the remainder. Lucapa is the manager and operator of the concession and funds all exploration activities.

If a diamond mining operation is eventually established, Lucapa is entitled to first recover all of its exploration and development costs, after which the proceeds from diamond sales will be shared proportionally between the stakeholders.