** Shares of Lucapa Diamond rise 5.6% to A$0.019

** Stock rose as much as 11.1% earlier in its biggest intraday gain since Dec. 23

** Diamond miner finds two large and highly conductive base metal targets at Merlin project in Northern Territory

** Trading vol of ~2.9 mln shares is nearly 3x the 30-day avg

** Stock down 5% YTD

(Reporting by Jasmeen Ara Shaikh in Bengaluru)

((Jasmeenaraislam.shaikh@thomsonreuters.com))