17 Jan 2022 11:07
BlueRock Diamonds PLC / AIM: BRD / Sector: Natural Resources
17 January 2022
BlueRock Diamonds PLC ('BlueRock' or the 'Company')
Q4 & FY 2021 Production Update
BlueRock Diamonds PLC, the AIM listed diamond producer, which owns and operates the Kareevlei Diamond Mine ('Kareevlei') in the Kimberley region of South Africa, is pleased to announce its Q4 2021 and FY 2021 production update.
Overview
Q4 21 | Q4 20 | %Var | FY21 | FY20 | %Var | |
Tonnes processed ('000) | 136 | 113 | 19 | 516 | 402 | 28 |
Carats produced | 6,866 | 4,781 | 44 | 23,497 | 15,371 | 53 |
Grade cpht | 5.05 | 4.24 | 19 | 4.55 | 3.83 | 19 |
Carats sold | 6,980 | 6,807 | 3 | 22,980 | 16,290 | 41 |
Value Per Carat (USD) | 431 | 263 | 64 | 470 | 295 | 59 |
Unaudited Revenue (USD million) | 3.0 | 1.8 | 68 | 10.8 | 4.8 | 124 |
BlueRock Executive Chairman, Mike Houston, said, "While we faced many challenges during 2021, we have seen production levels and the grade increase significantly and with that a 41% increase in our carats sold. The market has remained buoyant throughout the year with prices returning to levels above those of 2019 resulting in revenue more than doubling in 2021 compared with 2020.
"The new plant was fully operational in December and is running at close to design capacity now that a full complement of staff is back working after the mine was obliged to shut down most operations in late December due to the Omicron outbreak. Q1 production is always lower due to the impact of the wet season, but we are encouraged by the much-improved performance of the new plant to date. I anticipate much of Q1 2022 will be used to make minor refinements on the plant and focus on sustaining production at the increased volumes.
"Despite losing 20 days on the mining front in Q4 2021, which impacted the opencast operation and planned in-pit inventory management, and currently experiencing wet weather that makes recovering this lost development tonnage difficult, we have mining equipment capacity to increase volumes when weather permits and a run of mine and crushed ore inventory that will assist our operations during the rainy period. With this in mind, we anticipate Q1 2022 production to be materially higher than Q1 2021 (Q1 2021: 86,005 tonnes sorted). Furthermore, we have around 2,200 carats for sale in January, which includes two larger stones of 8.9 and 6.8 carats valued at over USD50k each."
Large stones recovered in 2021
Date sold 2021 | Carats | Value USD000 | Value per carat USD000 |
December | 11.2 | 97 | 8.7 |
November | 7.6 | 67 | 8.9 |
November | 7.6 | 61 | 8.0 |
November | 6.5 | 53 | 8.1 |
September | 7.1 | 64 | 9.1 |
August | 14.3 | 236 | 16.5 |
August | 58.6 | 585 | 10.0 |
August | 21.6 | 268 | 12.4 |
May | 6.3 | 52 | 8.3 |
March | 8.4 | 89 | 10.6 |
March | 10.7 | 73 | 6.8 |
March | 9.8 | 53 | 5.5 |
January | 14.8 | 163 | 11.0 |
Note: It is the Company policy to announce all stones sold with a value of in excess of USD50k
Outlook
The outlook for the market remains positive with the rough diamond supply side tight and the retail demand firm. With this in mind, and having achieved the 2021 guidance despite the mine closure at the end of 2021 due to Covid, the current guidance for 2022 remains unchanged as follows:
2022 guidance | 2021 guidance | 2021 actual (unaudited) | |
Carats produced | 40,000 to 43,000 | 22,000 to 26,000 | 23,497 |
Grade | 4.0 to 4.3 | 4.0 to 4.3 | 4.55 |
Value per carat USD | 400 | 400 to 440 | 470 |
Revenue USD million | 16.0 to 17.2 | 8.8 to 11.6 | 10.8 |
The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014 as it forms part of UK domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 ('MAR'). Upon the publication of this announcement via Regulatory Information Service ('RIS'), this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.
**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 d.facey@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 / Oonagh Reidy |
bluerock@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.