BlueRock Diamonds PLC Replacement - Operational update (5063C)
April 13 2017 - 11:44AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMBRD
RNS Number : 5063C
BlueRock Diamonds PLC
13 April 2017
BlueRock Diamonds plc
("BlueRock" or "the Company")
Replacement - Operational update
13 April 2017
This announcement replaces the "Operational update" announcement
released at 7am on 13 April 2017 with RNS number 3891C.
The announcement erroneously stated that the average price of
diamonds produced by the Company prior to the April tender period
was USD293 per tonne, when it should have been USD293 per carat.
The full amended text of the announcement appears below and all
other information remains unchanged.
BlueRock Diamonds plc, the AIM listed diamond mining company
which owns and operates the Kareevlei mine in South Africa is
pleased to give the following operational update.
Production volumes
Volumes of around our target of 1,250 tonnes per day have been
achieved, albeit not consistently due to the continued exceptional
levels of rainfall and to be expected commissioning issues arising
from the plant laying idle for over 6 months. In March, the plant
processed 9,310 tonnes and in April, so far, 3,330 tonnes from
effectively 3 days of production until processing was halted by
heavy rainfall on Thursday 6 April. We anticipate that now that the
commissioning issues are largely resolved and once the rain finally
subsides (we are nearing the end of the rainy season) we will be
able to exceed our current monthly target of 25,000 tonnes per
month.
Grade, value per carat and value per tonne processed
Since recommencing operations recovered grade has been improving
from initially 1.53 cpht, where the lower grade was impacted by
very wet kimberlite and the fact that this included some recovery
from earlier stockpiles, to the most recent results of 3.02cpht.
Further changes to the processing plant are being made which the
board expects will show continued improvement to grade.
Our average diamond size is significantly higher than hitherto
and we have been recovering approximately 4 times the number of
stones in excess of 5 carats, including three diamonds over 6
carats with the largest being 9.5 carats. Accordingly, value per
carat and, more importantly, value per tonne processed are
significantly higher than achieved by the old plant configuration
and at target volume levels would place Kareevlei into a healthy
cashflow positive position. The price per carat of diamonds
produced thus far during the April tender period have been
estimated at over USD500, compared with our previous average of
USD293 per carat.
Although encouraged by these results it should be noted that the
above figures are based on a relatively small sample size and the
board is awaiting further production results before significantly
adjusting core assumptions.
New opportunities
Although management remained focussed on the refinement of
operations at its Kareevlei Mine, as mentioned in the announcement
dated 17 March 2017, management are evaluating several new
opportunities and have recently entered into detailed discussions
regarding a previously unmined kimberlite prospect. The Company
will make further announcements as appropriate.
Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure
Certain information contained in this announcement would have
been deemed inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of
Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 until the release of this
announcement.
Adam Waugh, CEO, commented "Whilst it is still early days and
there is limited data to provide greater detail we are encouraged
by our production results and recovery to date. We expect to
provide greater detail at the end of April following the April
tender results.
Enquiries:
BlueRock Diamonds SP Angel Corporate
plc Finance LLP
Adam Waugh, CEO Nominated Adviser &
awaugh@bluerockdiamonds.co.uk Broker
Stuart Gledhill / Lindsay
Mair
+44 (0) 20 3470 0470
About BlueRock Diamonds plc (AIM: BRD)
BlueRock is a diamond mining company with activities in the
Kimberley region of South Africa. BlueRock owns a diamond
processing plant and the mining right over the Kareevlei Tenements
in South Africa.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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