Firestone Diamonds Liqhobong mine operations disrupted

Firestone Diamonds said on Friday that production at its 75%-owned mine in Lesotho has been "severely disrupted" due to power fluctuations.

The Liqhobong mine is supplied electricity from the Muela Hydropower Station (MHS), which is owned by the Lesotho Electricity Company (LEC).

The MHS began a two-month maintenance shutdown earlier this week, at which time ongoing supply was to be provided by South African energy company Eskom.

"Since then, the mine experienced unexpected voltage fluctuations that caused the drives of the plant equipment to trip and as a result, operations have been severely disrupted," Firestone said.

"Management is addressing the issue urgently with the LEC and Eskom, and will provide further updates in due course."

At 1500 BST, the shares were down 23.5% at 0.56p.