RAPAPORT... Firestone Diamonds sold a total of 45,773 carats from its Liqhobong mine for $4.14 million at its dual tenders held in Gaborone and Antwerp in July. The sale achieved an average price of $91 per carat, compared with the $71 per carat fetched during the April-to-June quarter.
The company reported continued strong demand for higher-quality stones while some pressure remains on poorer-quality and smaller stones. The tender included the sale of three large stones with an average size of 138 carats and numerous fancy yellow diamonds with a combined weight of 500 carats.
Firestone expects further improvement in diamond value from the mine following the completion of the recent plant modifications at Liqhobong in June and July 2012, which will reduce the breakage of stones and enhance the recovery of larger diamonds.
Production at Liqhobong fell 9 percent below plan during the second quarter to 49,240 carats. The mine achieved a grade of 32.3 carats per hundred tonnes, which was 16 percent below target due to continued mining of the lower grade K2 ore while the company allows for the higher-grade K5 ore to be mined and processed through the newly modified plant.
Separately, Firestone announced the appointment of Julian Treger and Mike Wittet as non-executive members on its the board of directors, while Grant Ferriman joined the company as chief financial officer.
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