REG - BlueRock DiamondsPLC - Q4 & FY 2021 Production Update

Bluerock DiamondsAnnouncement

17/01/2022 11:10

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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 (http://www.bluerockdiamonds.co.uk/)  or
contact:

 

 BlueRock Diamonds PLC

 Mike Houston                           mhouston@bluerockdiamonds.co.uk

 David Facey, FD                        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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