20 Apr 2021 07:00
BlueRock Diamonds PLC / AIM: BRD / Sector: Natural Resources
20 April 2021
BlueRock Diamonds PLC ('BlueRock' or the 'Company')
Q1 2021 Production Update
BlueRock Diamonds PLC, the AIM listed diamond producer, which owns and operates the Kareevlei Diamond Mine ('Kareevlei' or the 'Project') in the Kimberley region of South Africa, is pleased to announce its Q1 2021 production update.
OVERVIEW
Q1 2021 | Q1 2020 | % Variation | |
Tonnes Sorted | 86,005 | 74,011 | +16% |
Grade cpht | 4.08 | 3.38 | +21% |
Carats produced | 3,507 | 2,503 | +40% |
Carats sold | 4,004 | 3,267 | +23% |
Avg. price per carat USD | 446 | 327 | +37% |
BlueRock Executive Chairman, Mike Houston, said, "We are pleased to report that production levels are up on the same period last year, despite the adverse weather conditions, and the grade for the first quarter is within expectations. We are particularly pleased by the recovery in the prices for our diamonds averaging USD446 per carat for the quarter, which is significantly higher than the pre-covid period last year (USD327) and the average for 2019 (USD415). During the quarter, we sold four large carat diamonds, which generated in excess of USD50,000 each for a total of USD381,000.
"Our new project management team have settled in and are working well on the upgrade of our plant. As a result of this collaboration, we have decided to reprioritise some of the ancillary elements of the expansion project, which had been scheduled previously to take place following commissioning of the wet half of the new plant. We now expect the plant to be fully operational by the end of July, a month later than previously anticipated.
"We are still targeting production in excess of the bottom end of our existing guidance of 850,000 tonnes for 2021 although, for prudence, we are reducing our published guidance for 2021 of tonnes processed to 750,000 tonnes to 850,000 and carats produced to 30,000 to 39,000. Once the expansion project is complete, annual throughput will be circa 1 million tonnes."
High Value Diamond Sales - Q1 2021:
Carat | Price USD |
14.8 | 167,000 |
8.4 | 88,000 |
10.6 | 73,000 |
9.7 | 53,000 |
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.
**ENDS**
For further information, please visit BRD's website www.bluerockdiamonds.co.uk or contact:
BlueRock Diamonds PLC Mike Houston David Facey, FD |
mhouston@bluerockdiamonds.co.uk dfacey@bluerockdiamonds.co.uk |
SP Angel (NOMAD and Broker) Stuart Gledhill / Caroline Rowe |
Tel: +44 (0)20 3470 0470 |
St Brides Partners Ltd (Financial PR) Isabel de Salis / Susie Geliher |
info@stbridespartners.co.uk |
Notes to editors:
BlueRock Diamonds is an AIM-listed diamond producer which operates the Kareevlei Diamond Mine near Kimberley in South Africa which produces diamonds of exceptional quality and ranks in the top ten in the world in terms of average value per carat. The Kareevlei licence area covers 3,000 hectares and hosts five known diamondiferous kimberlite pipes with a combined inferred resource of 10.4 million tonnes / 516,200 carats (February 2021); based on its planned production of 1 million tonnes per annum, this provides a minimum 10-year life of mine.