1 Nov 2017 07:00
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.