DiamondCorp, the Southern African diamond mining, development and exploration compan, reported that it sold two run of mine parcels of diamonds at average prices of $189/ct and $53/ct respectively. The parcels, which would have formed part of a larger tender in Antwerp were sold directly to South African diamantaires prior to export, according to a statement released yesterday.

The Company reported that the first parcel comprised 1,838 carats of run-of-mine kimberlite diamonds while the second had 1,679 carats of tailings diamonds from the Lace project. They achieved prices that exceeded the Company's reserve prices during the South African export process, and were sold locally. Total proceeds received from the sale were $436,597 (R6,505,295).

The statement noted that prior to each Antwerp tender the Company undertakes several export shipments from South Africa. As per laid down procedure, a four-day window is allowed for South African licenced diamantaires to bid for the production. If the reserve prices placed by DiamondCorp on the parcels are exceeded during this four-day period, then the Company is obliged to sell the diamonds to the highest bids rather than exported. The Company's reserve prices must be market-related.

DiamondCorp CEO Paul Loudon said, “Pleasingly, the latest selling price is the highest achieved to date for run of mine Lace kimberlite diamonds and underlines the conservative nature of the $164/ct base case in the Company's resource statement and financial models. The higher price is a reflection both of the increase in the plant bottom screen size from 1.00 mm to 1.25 mm and the recovery of a higher than forecast frequency of diamonds greater than 4 carats in size.”

DiamondCorp said it will re-schedule the next Antwerp tender after monitoring both the rate of rough diamond accumulation over the next month and the need to maintain regular cashflow until steady state monthly tender sales is achieved. It is currently expected that two further tenders will take place before regular monthly sales commence at the end of September.

The Company reiterated that it remains on track to produce more than 75,000 carats of diamonds from kimberlite in 2016.