Image credit: BlueRock Diamonds
BlueRock Diamonds says prices of its diamonds were not badly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic as initially anticipated.
Company finance director David Facey was quoted by Proactive Investors as saying that they sold 2400 carats at a private sale earlier this month and recorded an average price of $290 per carat.
“We would have expected for that parcel an average price of around $330 per carat…so it’s not bad as it could be,” said Facey.
The parcel did not contain any notable high value diamonds.
He also said the Kareevlei mine, in South Africa is currently running at around 500,000 tonnes a year.
BlueRock production volume also went up 70% to 323,000 tonnes in the year ended 31 December 2019 compared to 190,000 tonnes, a year earlier.
Its average grade rose 32% to 4.34 cpht from 2018’s 3.28 cpht.
The Aim-listed diamond company’s revenue leaped 190% to £4.1 million in 2019 compared to £1.4 million in 2018.
It sold 12,675 carats during the year under review, a 124% jump from 5,657 carats in 2018.
Its average price per carat also jumped 24% to $415 per carat from the previous year’s $334.
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished
