BlueRock Diamonds PLC announcing its audited results for the year ended December 31, 2019, declared that its revenue for the period stood at £4.1 million, marking an increase of a whopping 190% over 2018 revenue of £1.4 million.

The Company sold a total of 12,675 carats as compared to 5,657 carats sold in FY 2018, an increase of 124% year-over-year (y-o-y).

The average price realised for the period stood at US$415 per carat; marking an increase of 24% as compared to the FY 2018 average realised price of US$334 per carat.

BlueRock reported that its production volume at its Kareevlei Mine was up 70% to 323,000 tonnes as against 190,000 tonnes in FY 2018. And that it achieved an average grade of 4.34 cpht for FY 2019, which was higher than the FY 2018 grade of 3.28 cpht by 32%.

The Group’s loss from operating activities at £472,167 was substantially lower than that incurred in FY 2018 of £1,802,964. Its loss (after tax etc) for the year amounted to £84,244 as against £2,441,943 for the previous year. After adjusting for other factors, the Group declared a total Comprehensive Loss of £651,947 for FY 2019, as compared to a Comprehensive Loss of £1,922,667 for the previous year.

“(The) New operating team appointed May 2019, achieved target to reach annual run rate of 400,000 tonnes and operational profitability through enhanced production at the end of 2019,” the Company noted.

BlueRock also said that it was working well with new strategic partner, the Teichmann Group, which holds a 29% interest in the Company (after share issue post AGM).

Now, the “advanced strategy” chalked out by the Company is to take the mine to a “mid-sized mine positioned for a material increase in production”.

BlueRock also declared that it is now back to full production, which had been temporarily suspended, following the outbreak of COVID-19. Furthermore, it has identified “a new route to market” with pre-sale financing that enables the Company to have greater flexibility and hence, more control over when sales are made.

In June 2020 (post-period), BlueRock carried out a private sale of a parcel of diamonds at an average price of US$ 290 per carat “reflecting ongoing demand for Kareevlei diamonds”, the Company underlined.

BlueRock reiterated that it was committed to providing both the community and the employees with a 5% interest in the local company, in accordance with the South African Mining Charter.

BlueRock Executive Chairman Michael Houston said: “The overall financial results for the year are encouraging although as stated in earlier reports the percentage of fixed costs remains too high and it is essential that we get the economies of scale right.”