Big Blue Cullinan Diamond: Petra Tender up by 22%!
MiningWeekly.com
De Beers Sales Higher but Lags Behind Last Year
PETRA
The sale by Southern African diamond mining company Petra Diamonds of an exceptional blue diamond in its fifth tender cycle lifted the average prices per carat received 22% higher than those of the prior Tender 4 sale.
Petra Diamonds Limited, headed by CEO Richard Duffy, reported on Tuesday that the price “upliftment” was the result of a remarkable 14.76 ct exceptional clarity blue diamond (seen here), recovered from Cullinan diamond mine in Gauteng, sold for $8.2-million.
“Production for the quarter is consistent with the preceding quarter and in-line with expectations. At Finsch, the first of the 78-Level Phase II production tunnels was successfully commissioned in March 2024, with commissioning of the remaining six tunnels expected to be completed by June 2024. We confirm our FY 2024 production guidance of 2.75 – 2.85 Mcts.
“Our fifth tender cycle yielded US$49 million from the sale of 362kcts. Average prices per carat received were 22% higher than Tender 4, supported by the sale of a 14.76 cts. exceptional colour and clarity blue diamond for US$8.2 million. Like-for-like prices were relatively flat through this seasonally weaker period, being 0.8% lower than Tender 4.
“We continue to update our life of mine plans to support our transition to a smoother capex profile. This includes a replanned ramp-up of the deferred capital projects from Q1 FY 2025.
“On 8 April 2024, we announced the signing of a definitive transaction agreement for the sale of Koffiefontein which is expected to result in Petra avoiding closure-related costs of US$15-18 million included in the Company’s 31 December 2023 balance sheet provisions. We also announced an increased cost savings target of more than US$30 million per annum that will sustainably lower our cost base. Around half of these savings are expected to come through a rebasing of fixed and variable costs in-line with reduced throughput at Finsch, with the remaining half as savings across operating costs and overheads at the Group level and Cullinan Mine.
“During the quarter we repaid US$23m of our RCF to reduce interest costs and had available liquidity of US$104 million at the end of Q3 FY 2024. While net debt had increased at the end of Q3 FY 2024, proceeds from the recently-closed Tender 5 have more than offset this increase. Together with the actions taken to sustainably reduce costs, this further enhances our business resilience.”
To read the post in MiningWeekly.com, tap here!
DeBeers
Diamond miner De Beers says it generated about $445-million in revenue from its third sales cycle for this year.
It compares with the $431-million of revenue generated from sales in the second cycle of this year and $542-million of revenue generated in the third cycle of last year.
De Beers CEO Al Cook says many diamond businesses are still taking a cautious approach to purchases as economic conditions remain uncertain, particularly in China with its slow pace of economic growth.
The third sales cycle of the year is nonetheless ahead of what is usually a slower period for rough diamond demand historically.
De Beers produces diamonds from open-pit, alluvial and coastal deposits in Canada, South Africa, Botswana and Namibia.
To read the original post, tap here to go to MiningWeekly.com!
