Construction of Lucara Diamond's 100%-owned AK6 diamond mine in Botswana is back on schedule after delays caused by industrial actions in South Africa's steel industry, and the project construction is 66% complete, the company reported Monday.



The delay has caused the projected date for the handover to be pushed from December 16, 2011 to February 16, 2012.



Lucara President and CEO William Lamb noted that the past few weeks had been frustrating, with delays caused by events outside the control of the diamond company's team. Lamb stressed that Lucara was considering all alternatives to launch diamond production at AK6 as soon as possible.