BlueRock Diamonds says it sold 3, 267 carats from Kareevlei diamond mine, in South Africa during the first three months of 2020, a 77% jump compared with the 1, 847 carats, a year earlier.
However, the average price per carat recorded eased 12% to $327 per carat in the first quarter of the year from $371 per carat in the first quarter of 2019.
“Diamond prices up to mid-February were in line with expectations given the lack of high-value diamonds in the period,” said BlueRock executive chairperson Mike Houston.
Image credit: BlueRock
“The company continued to recover high quality 1 ct to 5 ct diamonds.”
He said the update was overshadowed by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic that has been sweeping the world and has resulted in the temporary closure of Kareevlei last month.
“Before we were faced with the pandemic, BlueRock was performing well, with the results for the first quarter significantly better than the previous year, despite having over 18 inches of rainfall and the loss of eight days production owing to the South African lockdown,” said Houston.
Kareevlei has an on-surface stockpile of 30 000 t of run-of-mine and crushed material, which equates to about 15 days production.
This, it said, will be used to enable a swift return to target production levels.
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished
He said the update was overshadowed by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic that has been sweeping the world and has resulted in the temporary closure of Kareevlei last month.
“Before we were faced with the pandemic, BlueRock was performing well, with the results for the first quarter significantly better than the previous year, despite having over 18 inches of rainfall and the loss of eight days production owing to the South African lockdown,” said Houston.
Kareevlei has an on-surface stockpile of 30 000 t of run-of-mine and crushed material, which equates to about 15 days production.
This, it said, will be used to enable a swift return to target production levels.
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished
