Botswana Diamonds 2018 Loss Widens As It Develops African Projects

LONDON (Alliance News) - Botswana Diamonds PLC on Monday said it remains on track to become a diamond producer by mid-2019 as it progresses on project development in South Africa.

The project development company reported a pretax loss of GBP190,000 for the six months to the end of December, compared to GBP178,000 reported a year earlier.

The company did not generate any revenue in either year, but it plans to commence bulk sampling at the Thorny River diamond dyke project in South Africa in May, ramping up to 20,000 tons a month.

In Zimbabwe, Botswana Diamonds has a joint venture agreement with Vast Resources PLC to develop the Heritage concession in the Marange diamond field.

The parties plan to investigate the potential of the modern alluvial diamond deposits, as well as the older parts of the property.

Assuming positive results, the field work will be closely followed by drilling, pitting and bulk sampling, which will form part of a pre-feasibility study, Botswana Diamonds said.

The stock was trading 2.3% lower on Monday at 0.76 pence a share.