BlueRock Diamonds PLC (LON:BRD) unearthed a record quantity of gems at its Kareevlei mine in the third quarter, sending its share price up 7% to 136p.
Kareevlei, which is situated in the Northern Cape province of South Africa, is one of the top ten highest value per carat diamond mines in the world.
The company said a record 92,500 tonnes of ore were mined in the last three months which lifted production up 45% on the same period last year, in spite of the plant being closed for 19 days in July to install a new crusher.
Carats also shot up 117% to 3,973, with each stone’s average grade increasing by a third to 4.3 carats.
The gem company has so far discovered two stones weighing over 20 carats, with the latest in September tipping the scales at 20.72 carats.
Mike Houston, BlueRock’s executive chairman said that the company has seen “record levels of income and lowered unit costs of production” thanks to the “consistently high values per carat” of diamonds produced in the last quarter.
The gem company said it plans to increase its crushed stockpile to 50,000 tonnes by the end of December from a current volume of 6,000, so that production can continue during the rainy season.
BlueRock is currently negotiating with a specialist crushing contractor which will crush the boulders which were too large for the existing crushing plant.
Houston added: “I remain confident that we will meet our target of profitability in the second half of 2019."