LONDON (Alliance News) - Firestone Diamonds PLC said on Monday it saw a slight decrease in the amount of diamonds recovered as well as the value of rocks sold, in the first quarter of its current financial year due to production delays caused by bad weather.
For the three months to the end of September, at the Liqhobong mine in Lesotho, 240,733 carats of diamond were recovered at a grade of 23.8 carats per hundred tonnes, down from 263,512 carats at a grade of 25.7 carats the quarter before.
A total of 194,206 carats were sold during the quarter, realising revenue of USD13.5 million, down from 261,985 carats for revenue of USD18.6 million the prior quarter.
The average value per carat was USD70, down from the USD71 the quarter before and below expectations due to a deterioration in prices for the smaller, lower-value run-of-mine stones.
"We held one sale during the quarter which was impacted by lower average values realised for the smaller, lower quality ROM stones. However, from a total revenue perspective, the impact was partly offset by higher sales volumes. We completed our second sale of the financial year post the quarter end, and pleasingly, the strong demand for our special stones offset the continued pricing pressure on the ROM stones, resulting in an improved average value realised of USD79 per carat," said Chief Executive Officer Paul Bosma.
Shares in Firestone Diamonds were up 0.6% at 4.40 pence on Monday.
