Sapphire miner Richland Resources (LON:RLD) expects production at its Capricorn mine in Queensland to rise to 800,000 carats (ct) per quarter after substantial upgrade work.
Production in the three months to March totalled approximately 415,000 carats at an average grade of 12ct per tonne of alluvial gravel.
Output was affected by the ongoing development work, Richland said, but should rise to 600,000ct this quarter and to 800,000 thereafter.
Sales for the three months totalled US$232,000 from a sale of lower quality sapphires at US$0.70 per ct, but a similar sale in the current quarter generated US$159,000 or US$3.17 per ct.
A recent sale of 924 high quality sapphires, meanwhile, went for US$15.91 per ct on average.
Ed Nealon, chairman, added that a phase 1 JORC-compliant resource estimate should be published this quarter.
He added: "Q1 was in a sense a breakthrough period as we used all of the knowledge and data gathered to date to implemented major changes and improvements across all aspects of the operations.
“From the start we decided to develop and optimise all aspects of the operation, from mining, processing, sorting and grading to sales and marketing, while in production and revenue producing.
“We continue to develop the project ahead of target and with very strict cost control."