BlueRock Diamonds breaks production records in second quarter

BlueRock Diamonds, which owns and operates the Kareevlei Diamond Mine in the Kimberley region of South Africa, announced its record production in its second quarter production update on Monday.

The AIM-traded firm said that record production stood at 3,516 carats, which was four times that seen in the second quarter of 2018, when production was 875 carats.

It also reported record processed tonnes of 78,759 tonnes, up 130% on year-on-year. As well as a record grade of 4.46 carats per hundred tonnes, compared to 2.45 carats per hundred tonnes a year earlier.

The average price achieved for the period was $430 per carat on sales of 2,517 carats, compared to 875 carats sold at $305 per carat in the second quarter of 2018.

A 24.9 carat stone was sold for a record $190,000 in June, the board noted.

Tender revenue stood at $1.08m, rising from $0.27m year-on-year, with BlueRock also reporting that no time was lost to accidents in the period.

“I am very pleased with the impact that our new CEO at Kareevlei and his team have made,” said the company’s executive chairman Mike Houston.

“Whilst the management team is conscious that there are a number of milestones to reach if we are to bring real value to our shareholders, the improved grade and price per carat achieved in the first half of 2019 is a strong indication of the potential of the Kareevlei resource.

“The immediate impact of the new team gives us confidence in our ability to take production to the next level.”

Houston said that once the company has achieved its key objective of operating profitably, which the board expected to happen in the second half of 2019, it would explore how to increase production volumes further to the optimum level, which he said the resource could “comfortably” sustain.

“With all this in mind, we remain on track to meet our guidance targets for 2019 and 2020.”