Firestone Diamonds Average Value Per Carat In Q2 Below Expectations
February 05, 19
(IDEX Online) – Firestone Diamonds plc reported the sale of 191,735 carats of rough goods from its Liqhobong diamond mine in Lesotho in the second quarter of the financial year ended 31 December (Q1: 194,206 carats), with revenue of $13.9 million (Q1: $13.5 million).
The average value per carat of $72 (Q1: $70), is below expectations mainly due to a deterioration in prices received for the smaller, lower value stones, the miner said.
The firm recovered 224,947 carats in Q2 (Q1: 240,733 carats), resulting in a year-to-date total of 465,680 carats, on track with guidance of between 820,000 and 870,000 carats recovered for FY2019.
The miner sold 125,871 carats realizing total proceeds of $9.1 million, in the fourth sale of FY2019 which concluded on 1 February. The average value per carat was $72, with pricing received for the smaller, lower value stones remaining stable.
Paul Bosma, Chief Executive Officer, commented: "We had a reasonable second quarter, barring a scrubber failure sustained in November, ending the financial half year with all our production parameters on track to meet guidance by year end. The demand for the smaller, lower value stones deteriorated further during the quarter albeit that it stabilized at the December sale and remained at the same level for the January sale. Pleasingly the demand for larger, better quality stones remains strong as was evidenced by the pricing received for the 46 carat white stone that was sold during the first sale of 2019.