Stellar Diamonds said it incurred an operating loss before interest, tax and impairments of $4 million during the year ended 30 June 2012.
The group recorded a loss of $6.25 million during the same period last year.
Group non-executive chairman Lord Daresbury said in a statement emailed to Rough&Polished that the operating loss was in line with the board’s expectations.
He said the diamond market showed weakness in the first half of 2012 as global economic uncertainty dominated financial markets.
Bank lending to fund diamond buying slowed and a sluggish polished market combined to force rough prices to decline from year highs by as much as 20 percent to 30 percent in some categories, Daresbury said.
“Whilst we are no doubt going to experience further volatility in the diamond market in the short term, there is still sector consensus that the diamond price outlook for the medium to long term remains robust,” he said.
Meanwhile, Stellar chief executive Karl Smithson said the company delivered maiden JORC compliant resources totalling 3.1 million carats.
He also said Stellar remained on track to deliver updated resource statements for Tongo in Sierra Leone and Guinea’s Droujba in the fourth quarter of 2012.
“These projects will then move into the pre-feasibility stage to further define their economic viability and assess the capital requirement to move them into production,” he said.
“Both projects have high diamond grades and in the case of Tongo Dyke-1 a very high diamond value, making it globally one of the highest value kimberlites on a dollar per tonne basis.”
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished
