BlueRock Diamonds, the AIM-listed diamond producer, which owns and operates the Kareevlei Diamond Mine in the Kimberley region of South Africa, has recorded stronger diamond prices in the first quarter of the year.
Company executive chairperson Mike Houston said their diamonds averaged $446 per carat for the quarter, which is significantly higher than the $327 per carat recorded during the pre-COVID period last year and the average for 2019 of $415.
BlueRock sold 4,004 carats in the first quarter, an increase of 23% from 3,267 carats in the first quarter of 2020.
"During the quarter, we sold four large carat diamonds, which generated [more than] $50,000 each for a total of $381,000," he said.
Houston also said that production levels were up in the same period last year, despite the adverse weather conditions.
The company produced 3,507 carats, a 40% rise compared to 2,503 carats, a year earlier.
"We are still targeting production [over] the bottom end of our existing guidance of 850,000 tonnes for 2021 although, for prudence, we are reducing our published guidance for 2021 of tonnes processed to 750,000 tonnes to 850,000 and carats produced to 30,000 to 39,000," he said.
"Once the expansion project is complete, annual throughput will be circa 1 million tonnes."
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished
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