2 Sep 2020 07:00
BlueRock Diamonds PLC / AIM: BRD / Sector: Natural Resources
2 September 2020
BlueRock Diamonds PLC ('BlueRock' or the 'Company')
Sale of 3,805 carat diamond parcel
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 the sale of 3,805 carats at an average price of USD330 per carat for an aggregate consideration of USD1,255,000.
BlueRock Executive Chairman, Mike Houston, said, "Our diamonds remain attractive to buyers even in what continues to be an uncertain market. Similar to the sale announced in June 2020, this was a private sale conducted through a sales agent in South Africa. We are pleased with the price achieved which is above our internal budget and a 14% increase over the price achieved in June 2020.
"We continue to finalise the necessary export requirements which have proven to be a lengthy process in the current COVID-19 environment. As soon as this is completed, we will commence exports which gives us the flexibility of bridge financing our inventory, if required. Until then we have the option of selling our diamonds locally at a price which allows us to operate profitably."
Diamond announcement policy
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Company's policy had been to announce the value of individual diamonds with a value of above USD50,000 on sale. The two recent sales have been sold as a total package and the value of individual diamonds has not been separately identified (for example this recent sale included the 12.12 carat stone recovered in July 2020); this is a position that might continue. Accordingly, the Company is modifying its announcement policy such that for the foreseeable future BlueRock will announce all individual diamonds valued at above USD50,000 when formally valued.
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
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) Susie Geliher / Cosima Akerman |
Tel: +44 (0)20 7236 1177 |
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. As at November 2018, it was estimated that the remaining Inferred Mineral Resource from the four kimberlite pipes (KV1, KV2, KV3 and KV5) represents a potential inground number of carats of 367,000.