BlueRock Diamonds PLC Diamond Sales and Production Update (1803V)
01 November 2017 - 6:00PM
UK Regulatory
TIDMBRD
RNS Number : 1803V
BlueRock Diamonds PLC
01 November 2017
1 November 2017
BlueRock Diamonds PLC
("BlueRock" or the "Company" or "BRD")
Diamond Sales and Production Update
BlueRock Diamonds plc, the AIM listed diamond mining company,
which owns and operates the
Kareevlei Diamond Mine in the Kimberley region of South Africa
("Kareevlei") announces the results of its October 2017 diamond
sales tender and production.
Highlights
-- Record monthly sales of ZAR 3.25 million (USD 226,400)
-- Record monthly number of carats sold at auction of 609.84
-- Average value per carat of USD 371.25
-- Blasting and processing of Level 2 Kimberlite commenced
Tender results
In October 2017 the Company sold a record 609.84 carats
(September: 544.57 carats) achieving its highest ever level of
monthly sales of ZAR 3.25 million (USD 226,400) (September: USD
175,621).
The October parcel was sold at an average of USD 371.25 per
carat compared with the average price realised for the first 9
months of 2017 of USD 336.65.
The diamonds produced and included in October's sales tender
resulted in a grade of 2.64 cpht. The average grade for total
production in the third quarter was 2.49 cpht vs 1.59 cpht for the
first half of 2017.
Production
As announced on 10 October 2017, the Company's operations were
affected by rainfall in the early part of the month which caused
approximately 5 days of production to be lost. Production in
October was therefore approximately 17,000 tonnes compared to
22,010 tonnes in September. Production has returned to normal
levels and steps have been taken to mitigate the effect of similar
amounts of rain in the future by introducing plant to produce a
stockpile of covered material available for processing during rainy
periods.
Mining
Blasting and processing of the Level 2 kimberlite has now
commenced. As previously announced, it is expected that the level 2
kimberlite will, on average, yield higher grades than that achieved
from the Level 1 kimberlite that the Company has been processing
for the last few months.
Adam Waugh, Chief Executive Officer of BlueRock Diamonds,
commented:
"Our October tender result continues to show the high quality of
Kareevlei diamonds. The average price of USD 371 per carat was
achieved without any exceptionally large diamonds, the largest
being 5.5 carats. We have been able to demonstrate that the mine
can be operated on a profitable basis and our team are now
concentrating on sustainable improvements to production whilst we
start to mine the expected higher grade ore."
Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure
Certain information contained in this announcement would have
been deemed inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of
Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 until the release of this
announcement.
For further information, please contact:
BlueRock Diamonds plc
Adam Waugh, CEO
awaugh@bluerockdiamonds.co.uk
SP Angel (NOMAD and Broker)
Stuart Gledhill / Lindsay Mair/Caroline Rowe
+44 (0)20 3470 0470
Yellow Jersey (PR and IR)
Georgia Colkin / Joe Burgess / Katie Bairsto
+44 (0) 7769 325254
About BlueRock Diamonds plc (AIM: BRD)
BlueRock is a diamond mining company with activities in the
Kimberley region of South Africa. BlueRock own a diamond processing
plant and the mining right over the Kareevlei Tenements in South
Africa.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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