Petra Diamonds said its production for the year ended 30 June 2014 (FY 2014) improved by 17 percent to 3,1 million carats from 2,7 million carats realised a year earlier.
It attributed the increase to improved output at Finsch, Williamson, Koffiefontein and Kimberley Underground mines.
The output was above market guidance of 3 million carats.
Petra indicated that the output could have increased beyond 3.1 million carats had Cullinan and Helam mines fared well.
Cullinan’s production decreased 5 percent to 823,619 carats from 868,975 carats recorded a year earlier mainly due to a reduced ROM grade of 27.8 cpht.
Output at Helam dropped 32 percent to 35,148 during the period under review from 52,011 recorded in FY 2013.
Meanwhile, Petra’s revenue leaped 17 percent to $472.6 million in FY 2014 from $402.7 million realised a year earlier.
Carats sold increased 23 percent to 3.1 million from the previous year’s 2,5 million, in line with the increasing trend of production.
Petra Diamonds chief executive Johan Dippenaar said FY 2014 had seen a further year of solid production and revenue growth, with the group on track to reach annual production of about 5 million carats by FY 2019.
“We have also recorded further progress with our expansion programmes, which remain on schedule and on budget,” he said in a statement emailed to Rough&Polished.
“Petra has experienced a firmer diamond market during the second half of FY 2014 and the outlook remains positive due to constrained supply and a firm US market, as well as continued growth in emerging markets.”
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished
