BlueRock Diamonds plc, owner-operator of the Kareevlei Diamond Mine in the Kimberley region of South Africa, recently announced the recovery of a 16.28 carat diamond of gem quality. This latest large diamond to be found is 4.58 carats larger than the previous largest diamond recovered.

The Company says it is arranging to have this diamond valued and will provide further updates in due course.

Adam Waugh, BlueRock’s CEO commented, “This discovery follows hot on the heels of our recovery of an exceptional 8.97 carat diamond on Friday 1st February. The quality of these diamonds is a reminder of why we are so confident about the potential of the Kareevlei mine and the outlook for 2019.”

He added, “The 8.97 carat diamond marked the third stone independently valued in excess of US$ 50,000 mined from Kareevlei; the two previous record value stones were a 7.76 carat stone recovered in 2017 and sold for US$ 10,070 per carat and a 10.58 carat stone recovered in 2018 and sold for US$ 7,047 per carat.”

Soon after the news of this recovery was put out, BlueRock also announced that it has raised an aggregate of £575,000 (before expenses) via the issue of 191,666,667 ordinary shares of 0.01 pence each in the capital of the Company (New Shares) through a placing at a price of 0.3 pence per New Share (Placing Price) (the Fundraising).  

“The Company is also issuing one warrant for every one New Share issued at a price of 0.4 pence with a life of two years from the date of issue (the Warrants),” the Company announced. “The Warrants will not be listed.”

BlueRock explained that in November 2018, the Company had raised funds to “further the development of KV1 and KV2 and also to fund minor improvements to the Company’s operating plant “, which took place during the Christmas shut down period.

The Company has stated that while the main development to KV2 will take place in the second half of 2019; 340,000 tonnes of waste stripping has been undertaken at KV1, “preparing the pipe for efficient long term mining”.

“The funds raised in this Fundraising will help the Company to continue to progress the development of Kareevlei,” BlueRock observed. “The recent recovery of large, high quality gem diamonds has encouraged the Company to look at ways to fast track its production targets. Further investment in the crushing circuit will be necessary to achieve this and discussions with industry partners are taking place to address this.”

The Company said that it is considering a number of options – including outsourcing and external funding – from industry partners.

Adam Waugh, CEO commented, “The quality of Kareevlei diamonds has been highlighted by the recovery of several high-quality high carat stones, the latest of which was a 16.28 carat diamond recovered on Friday. “I look forward to updating all shareholders on our progress as we continue to focus on increasing production.”