Subdued demand for smaller, lower value run of mine rough diamonds and the resultant deterioration in their prices impacted sales of rough, Firestone Diamonds plc said while releasing its quarterly update for the period ended September 30, 2018 (Q1 FY 2019).

The Company said it sold a total of 194,206 carats in first sale of the financial year (Q4-FY18: 261,985 carats), realising revenue of US$ 13.5 million (Q4-FY18: US$ 18.6 million) at an average value of US$ 70 per carat (Q4-FY18: US$ 71 per carat).

Firestone added that 240,733 carats were recovered at a grade of 23.8 carats per hundred tonnes (cpht) (Q4-FY18: 263,512 carats at a grade of 25.7 cpht) with treatment of 1,012,323 tonnes of ore (Q4-FY18: 1,025,647 tonnes).

During the quarter, 114 special stones (plus 10.8 carats) were recovered (Q4-FY18: 114 stones). The average quality and size improved in September with the recovery of several better quality diamonds which were sold at the recent tender. A total of 102,835 carats were sold realising total proceeds of US$ 8.2 million, which realised an average value of US$ 79 per carat.

Paul Bosma, Chief Executive Officer, commented, "The first quarter was a good start to our financial year and it is pleasing that the positive operational momentum from the previous quarter was maintained. We held one sale during the quarter which was impacted by lower average values realised for the smaller, lower quality ROM stones. However, from a total revenue perspective, the impact was partly offset by higher sales volumes.”

He added, “During October we also recovered our largest stone to date, a 326 carat near-gem diamond which provides further evidence of Liqhobong's large stone potential and importantly, the ability of the treatment plant to recover larger stones intact."