31 May 2018 07:00
31 May 2018
BlueRock Diamonds PLC
("BlueRock" or "Group" or "Company" or "BRD")
Placing raises £350,000
Mining activities expand to KV01
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"), is pleased to announce that it has raised an aggregate of £350,000 (before expenses) via the issue of 29,166,667 ordinary shares of 1 pence each in the capital of the Company (the "New Shares") through a placing at a price of 1.2 pence per New Share (the "Fundraising").
In addition to strengthening the balance sheet, the Company will use the larger part of the proceeds to expedite the development of KV01 (Pipe 1), which is very similar in geology and size to Pipe 2, but has an inferred grade of 6.3 carats per hundred tonnes ("cpht"), 40% higher than the inferred grade of Pipe 2 (4.5cpht). In March 2018, the Company announced its intention to open mining operations in Pipe 1 and expected to be mining Kimberlite from Pipe 1 during Q3 2018. The Company is ahead of schedule in its development of Pipe 1 with 107,000 tonnes of waste already mined and the first Kimberlite blast expected in the next three to four weeks.
The Company has now implemented the changes to the crushing circuit envisaged at the time of its last fund raising and is now averaging around 1,350 tonnes a day (equivalent to over 28,000 tonnes a month. The final changes to the crushing plant will be completed in June 2018 and the Company would expect daily volumes to increase further.
The Company's guidance for the year remains unchanged.
2017 actual | 2018 Guidance | |
Volume (tonnes) | 153,147 | 275,000 |
Average grade cpht | 2.45 | 3.5 - 4.5 |
Revenue per carat ($/carat) | 362 | 362 |
Adam Waugh, CEO, commented: "We are pleased that the changes to our crushing circuit have achieved the desired result but we continue to seek ways of increasing production levels further. We are excited about beginning to mine K1 with the prospect of a significant increase in grade."
Details of the Fundraising
Application will be made for the New Shares, which will rank pari passu with the existing Ordinary Shares, to be admitted to trading on AIM ("Admission"). It is expected that Admission will become effective and dealings will commence on or around 6 June 2018.
Total Voting Rights
Following the issue of the New Shares, the issued share capital of the Company will consist of 202,324,242 Ordinary Shares. No shares were held in treasury at the date of this announcement. The total current voting rights in the Company are therefore 202,324,242.
The above total current voting rights number is the figure which may be used by shareholders as the denominator for the calculation by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in the Company.
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
David Facey, FD
dfacey@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.