Firestone Diamonds announces results of first sale

AIM-listed Firestone Diamonds has sold all 75,936 carats of diamonds recovered from its 75%-owned Liqhobong diamond mine in Lesotho.

The company achieved an average price of $107 per carat and total sale proceeds came in at $8.14m.

Firestone's first sale of diamonds saw over 90 companies viewing the goods and more than 38 companies being successful.

The group said the average price per carat achieved was “very pleasing”, considering the carats sold were recovered from the predominantly lower quality ore areas and are not necessarily representative of the run of mine ore.

Firestone said the higher quality diamonds were competitively bid for during the sale. The best stone, a 37-carat type 2a internally flawless white stone was sold for well over $1m. A number of yellow and fancy yellow stones included in the sale also achieved competitive prices, with interest being exceptionally strong in these categories.

As previously announced, Firestone expects to host two sales per quarter, with the second set for late in the first quarter. Going forward, it will update the market on the result of sales on a quarterly basis.

Chief executive officer Stuart Brown said: "We are very pleased to have undertaken Firestone's first sale of diamonds from Liqhobong and with the results achieved.

“We look forward to better results as we gradually increase our mining to all areas of the pit and increase our run of mine production over time.”

At 0956 GMT, the shares were down 1.3% to 51.35p.