Q4 & FY 2021 Production Update

RNS Number : 6729Y
BlueRock Diamonds PLC
17 January 2022
 

BlueRock Diamonds PLC / AIM: BRD / Sector: Natural Resources

17 January 2022

BlueRock Diamonds PLC ('BlueRock' or the 'Company')

Q4 & FY 2021 Production Update

 

BlueRock Diamonds PLC, the AIM listed diamond producer, which owns and operates the Kareevlei Diamond Mine ('Kareevlei') in the Kimberley region of South Africa, is pleased to announce its Q4 2021 and FY 2021 production update.

 

Overview

 


Q4 21

Q4 20

%Var

FY21

 FY20

 %Var

 Tonnes processed ('000)

136

113

19

516

402

28

 Carats produced

6,866

4,781

44

23,497

15,371

53

 Grade cpht

5.05

4.24

19

4.55

3.83

19

 Carats sold

6,980

6,807

3

22,980

16,290

41

 Value Per Carat (USD)

431

263 

64

470

295

59

Unaudited Revenue (USD million)

3.0

1.8

68

10.8

4.8

124

 

BlueRock Executive Chairman, Mike Houston, said, "While we faced many challenges during 2021, we have seen production levels and the grade increase significantly and with that a 41% increase in our carats sold. The market has remained buoyant throughout the year with prices returning to levels above those of 2019 resulting in revenue more than doubling in 2021 compared with 2020. 

 

"The new plant was fully operational in December and is running at close to design capacity now that a full complement of staff is back working after the mine was obliged to shut down most operations in late December due to the Omicron outbreak.  Q1 production is always lower due to the impact of the wet season, but we are encouraged by the much-improved performance of the new plant to date.  I anticipate much of Q1 2022 will be used to make minor refinements on the plant and focus on sustaining production at the increased volumes.   

 

"Despite losing 20 days on the mining front in Q4 2021, which impacted the opencast operation and planned in-pit inventory management, and currently experiencing wet weather that makes recovering this lost development tonnage difficult, we have mining equipment capacity to increase volumes when weather permits and a run of mine and crushed ore inventory that will assist our operations during the rainy period.  With this in mind, we anticipate Q1 2022 production to be materially higher than Q1 2021 (Q1 2021: 86,005 tonnes sorted).  Furthermore, we have around 2,200 carats for sale in January, which includes two larger stones of 8.9 and 6.8 carats valued at over USD50k each."

 

Large stones recovered in 2021

 

Date sold 2021

Carats

Value USD000

Value per carat USD000

December

11.2

97

8.7

November

7.6

67

8.9

November

7.6

61

8.0

November

6.5

53

8.1

September

7.1

64

9.1

August

14.3

236

16.5

August

58.6

585

10.0

August

21.6

268

12.4

May

6.3

52

8.3

March

8.4

89

10.6

March

10.7

73

6.8

March

9.8

53

5.5

January

14.8

163

11.0

Note: It is the Company policy to announce all stones sold with a value of in excess of USD50k

 

Outlook

 

The outlook for the market remains positive with the rough diamond supply side tight and the retail demand firm.  With this in mind, and having achieved the 2021 guidance despite the mine closure at the end of 2021 due to Covid, the current guidance for 2022 remains unchanged as follows:

 


2022 guidance

2021 guidance

2021 actual (unaudited)

Carats produced

40,000 to 43,000

22,000 to 26,000

23,497

Grade

4.0 to 4.3

4.0 to 4.3

4.55

Value per carat USD

400

400 to 440

470

Revenue USD million

16.0 to 17.2

8.8 to 11.6

10.8

 

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014 as it forms part of UK domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 ('MAR'). Upon the publication of this announcement via Regulatory Information Service ('RIS'), this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.

 

**ENDS**

 

For further information, please visit BRD's website  www.bluerockdiamonds.co.uk  or contact:

 

BlueRock Diamonds PLC

Mike Houston

David Facey, FD

 

mhouston@bluerockdiamonds.co.uk

d.facey@bluerockdiamonds.co.uk

SP Angel (NOMAD and Broker)

Stuart Gledhill / Caroline Rowe

 

Tel: +44 (0)20 3470 0470

St Brides Partners Ltd (Financial PR)

Isabel de Salis / Oonagh Reidy

 

bluerock@stbridespartners.co.uk

 

Notes to editors:

BlueRock Diamonds is an AIM-listed diamond producer which operates the Kareevlei Diamond Mine near Kimberley in South Africa which produces diamonds of exceptional quality and ranks in the top ten in the world in terms of average value per carat. The Kareevlei licence area covers 3,000 hectares and hosts five known diamondiferous kimberlite pipes with a combined inferred resource of 10.4 million tonnes / 516,200 carats (February 2021); based on its planned production of 1 million tonnes per annum, this provides a minimum 10-year life of mine. 

 

 

 

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