BlueRock Diamonds has raised £1.25 million to fast track growth plans at its Kareevlei Diamond Mine in South Africa as well as help strengthen its balance sheet.
The company raised £1.235 million from 3.5 million new shares placed at a price of 35p each.
In addition to the placing, three of the company’s directors have indicated their intention to subscribe for a further £5,000 each at the same price.
BlueRock said it will enhance earlier expansion plan to increase production volume to a run rate of 1 million tonnes or 45,000 carats per annum by the end of 2020.
“We have stressed to shareholders the importance of getting the economies of scale right; the funds raised today will enable us to continue with this strategy to increase annual production volumes and to implement cost cutting and efficiency measures in order to optimise the profitability of the company,” said executive chairman Houston.
“Additionally, our balance sheet has been significantly strengthened to help us better withstand the extreme uncertainty of operating in a COVID-19 environment while implementing our exciting expansion plans…”
The company said production at Kareevlei has averaged over 1,800 tonnes a day since recommencing operations in May.
This is significantly higher than the average daily tonnage in the fourth quarter of 2019, which achieved a then record of about 1,300 tonnes a day.
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished
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