3 Sep 2020 08:30
BlueRock Diamonds PLC / AIM: BRD / Sector: Natural Resources
3 September 2020
BlueRock Diamonds PLC ('BlueRock' or the 'Company')
Grade Recovers to Above 2019 Levels
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 that in August 2020 41,000 tonnes of ore were processed from the Main Pit at Kareevlei and the diamonds mined had a significantly improved average grade of 5.1 cpht.
BlueRock Executive Chairman, Mike Houston, said, "As anticipated, now that we are operating again in the Main Pit's main kimberlite zone with minimal dilution, the grade of the diamonds mined and processed in August 2020 has recovered materially to 5.1 cpht compared to H1 2020 which averaged grades of 3.0 cpht. The grade now stands well above our current internal target of 4.0 cpht.
"The increase in grade has a significant impact on the operations in what remains a challenging environment. Most importantly it lowers the cost per carat significantly and provides more operational flexibility. It should be noted however, that as diamonds are not a homogenous resource, grades may vary as we mine in different parts of the pit.
"I look forward to providing further updates when practicable."
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.
BRD.L (BRD)