16th Oct 2013 08:30
LONDON (Alliance News) - Paragon Diamonds Limited Wednesday said a parcel of sampled stones from the Lemphane Kimberlite Diamond mine has been sold in Antwerp.
The Lesotho focused diamond development and production company said it achieved an average value of USD358 per carat for the combined overall parcel of 221.2 carats.
Paragon said the diamond parcel was made up of samples excavated from different locations on the surface of the project and included twelve diamonds in excess of 1.80 carats, including two stones valued at USD2,000 per carat, which represented 63% of the full parcel value.
Although the company noted its samples were too small to give representative average prices for its in-situ resource, the company expected the average values and number of carats to increase as it moves towards production.
"It is to be expected that the larger tonnages envisaged in mining will result in recovery of a higher proportion of larger stones. With the inclusion of the anticipated larger stones the average value is expected to increase," Paragon Chairman Martin Doyle said in a statement.
Paragon Diamonds shares were off 9.7% at 5.15 pence, placing it in the top five AIM losers Wednesday. The shares dropped as far as 5.03p in morning trade.
By Tom McIvor; [email protected]; @TomMcIvor1
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