22nd Jun 2020 11:16
(Alliance News) - BlueRock Diamonds PLC on Monday reported a surge in revenue for 2019 and said it is up and running again as lockdown measures in South Africa are eased.
The diamond producer said revenue jumped to GBP4.1 million from GBP1.4 million and its pretax loss narrowed to GBP684,244 from GBP2.4 million.
The operator of the Kareevlei diamond mine in South Africa said production volumes climbed 70% to 323,000 tonnes in 2019 from 190,000 tonnes in 2018.
Average price per carat climbed 24% to USD415 from USD334.
BlueRock said: "2019 was a successful year from two fronts, firstly your company achieved all of its key objectives for the year and secondly, we have taken a number of steps to take the mine from an unconventional small scale operation to a mid-sized mine that is positioned for a material increase in production; set out below are the key operating statistics for the year."
BlueRock described it was initially hit as the Covid-19 pandemic spread globally. Diamond auctions were hurt by travel restrictions.
"The tender held in Kimberley in March was poorly attended and the bids that were received for our diamonds are best described as speculative and, as a consequence, we withdrew the diamonds from sale. Given the likely ongoing travel restrictions to and within South Africa and the likely ongoing impact on the South African diamond tenders, the company expedited its plan to commence selling diamonds in the international market," the firm explained.
The Covid-19 pandemic has cost the company GBP550,000, it said.
It is now "back to full production", it added. Earlier in June, it reported the private sale of 2,400 carats at an average of USD290 each, USD700,000 in total.
BlueRock shares were 4.0% higher at 52.00 pence each in London on Monday morning.
By Eric Cunha; [email protected]
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