BlueRock Diamonds reaches agreement with former chief executive

BlueRock Diamonds said it had reached an agreement that will see former chief executive Riaan Visser's claim against one of the firm's subsidiaries be struck from the court roll.

Visser agreed to withdraw his application for the liquidation of BlueRock's Kareevlei Mining subsidiary, subject to security being provided for the full £230,000 amount of his alleged claim. BlueRock shares were up 19.27% to 1.22p on the news.

As a result, a provisional liquidation hearing scheduled for Friday was put on hold as BlueRock planned to make payment of the security on or around 13 August.

The AIM-listed diamonds producer said it took the "prudent action on the advice of its lawyers" because, while confident that, had the hearing proceeded, it would have been successful, BlueRock felt it was impossible to be "entirely confident of success" in any other court process.

Chief executive Adam Waugh, said if Visser decided to pursue his claim further "it will be dealt with in the course of a normal recovery process and we remain confident, based on legal advice, that his case is without merit".

Visser pushed for the liquidation hearing, claiming he was owed ZAR 3.78m (£0.2m) by Kareevlei due to advances made by him and a further ZAR 987,525 for the firm's use of a generator controlled by him.