8th Apr 2019 09:09
LONDON (Alliance News) - Firestone Diamonds PLC on Monday announced the discovery of three large diamonds, including one of 72 carats.
The 72 carat rock is a yellow, makeable diamond, Firestone said, and was found at the Liqhobong mine in Lesotho. Alongside it, Firestone found a 22 carat makeable white stone and an 11 carat fancy light-pink diamond.
All three will go on sale at the next tender, which is due during May.
This is the second 70 carat-plus diamond Firestone has found so far in 2019, after selling one in March for a record unspecified price. It sold a 46 carat stone found in December for over USD1 million.
Chief Executive Paul Bosma said: "It was a good weekend for us, recovering the 72 carat diamond as well as the two smaller, high-quality stones from within the northern, lower-grade part of the pit.
"These recoveries will certainly assist in supporting the average value of the next sale in May."
Shares were 6.1% higher on Monday morning at a price of 2.18 pence each.
In late March, the diamond miner reported a loss of USD6.7 million for the six months to the end of December, narrowed from USD10.3 million for the same period a year earlier.
Revenue rose 5.4% to USD27.4 million as carats recovered increased 23%.
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