Petra Diamonds Limited announced yesterday that in response to Eskom’s (the electricity utility in South Africa) declaration of a “Power System Emergency” and request from the authority to reduce its load to “Essential Loads Level”, the Company has begun the process of “halting its mining operations in South Africa”. The move will affect Petra’s Cullinan, Finsch and Koffiefontein Mines.

The “unprecedented move” to Stage 6 load shedding became effective from December 9, 2019, 6:00pm SAST. It was necessitated due to a technical fault at the Medupi Power Station which has led to a shortage of capacity, the Company revealed.

“Production, hoisting and processing have stopped with immediate effect and the Company is now removing all people from underground, except those required for essential services, with only pumping to prevent flooding and ventilation for safety being allowed,” Petra said in its announcement statement yesterday.

The Company has assured stakeholders that it will provide an update “as soon as it receives further notification as to how long the load curtailment will last, and therefore what impact this is likely to have upon the Company's production performance”.