REG - BlueRock DiamondsPLC - Update

Bluerock DiamondsAnnouncement

23/11/2021 07:00

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RNS Number : 1977T  BlueRock Diamonds PLC  23 November 2021

BlueRock Diamonds PLC / AIM: BRD / Sector: Natural Resources

23 November 2021

BlueRock Diamonds PLC ('BlueRock' or the 'Company')

Update

 

BlueRock Diamonds PLC, the AIM listed diamond producer, is pleased to announce
that further to the announcement of 19 November 2021 and following further
discussions with the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (the 'DMRE'),
mining activities at its Kareevlei Diamond Mine ('Kareevlei') in the Kimberley
region of South Africa have resumed.

 

The Company is also pleased to report that commissioning of the new plant
designed to increase production to 1 million tonnes per annum and carats
produced to between 40,000 and 43,000 carats per annum is progressing well,
with the crushing circuit and Line 1 fully operational and achieving design
capacity.  The old plant was closed last week and the two pans, as planned,
have been refurbished and fitted to Line 2. Management will start feeding ore
to Line 2 this week and start ramping up to full production shortly
thereafter.

 

BlueRock Executive Chairman, Mike Houston, said, "We are confident that given
the experience of commissioning Line 1, commissioning Line 2 should be
relatively straightforward, which should enable us to fast track to full
production.  Pleasingly, the mine had, prior to the short suspension of
mining activities, been building up stocks of crushed ore and will resume
doing so until early December when Line 2 is expected to be fully operational;
these stocks will help sustain production as we move into the rainy season and
position us to deliver on the lower end of our 2021 production guidance of
22,000 to 26,000 carats (2020: 15,371 carats).

 

"We were disappointed to be issued with the Section 54 notice and the time it
took to resolve the issues raised.  However, as management, we appreciate the
guidance given by the DMRE. We are now looking at how best to manage the
working capital impact of the lost production."

 

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 / Susie Geliher        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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