What BlueRock Diamonds does
BlueRock Diamonds PLC (LON:BRD) operates the Kareevlei diamond mine in South Africa, one of the top 10 highest value per carat diamond mines in the world.
The Kareevlei licence area covers 3,000 hectares and hosts five known diamondiferous kimberlite pipes.
How it's doing
In February, BlueRock released an updated resource statement for the Kareevlei mine in the Kimberley region of South Africa.
The new official number shows that an increase in net tonnes of ore to 10,368,300 supported a 53% increase in net carats to 516,200.
What’s more, 19% of the resource has been upgraded to the indicated category.
The miner meanwhile continues to pull large stones out of the mine. In March a further three gem-quality stones were found at Kareevlei.
The trio weighed in at 10.6 carats, 9.8 carats and 8.4 carats respectively. It sold a 14.8-carat stone for US$167,000 in January.
What the broker says: SP Angel
"The news of the recovery of three larger gem-quality diamonds adds significant additional value to the business.
"Not only should they bring >US$282,162 in additional sales but the recovery of three larger gem-quality stones this quarter raises the incidence of larger stone recovery as well as the overall per carat valuation.
"If the mine continues to recover larger stones at the rate seen so far in the first quarter we could be adding a further $42/ct to our overall sales estimate or around $1.8mpa to sales each year or another 19% to our valuation.
What the boss says: Mike Houston, executive chairman
"The resource statement confirms the provisional figures released in December 2020 and based on our planned production of one million tonnes per annum, provides a minimum 10-year life of mine.
“The board is confident that the resource will increase further, once more work is completed on KV3, our largest pipe, where at present only 40% of this pipe's volume is included in the resource.
