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RAPAPORT... Rockwell Diamonds reported that revenue improved 47 percent year on year to $15.76 million in the third quarter that ended on November 30. Earnings will be reported on January 13, 2015. The junior miner sold 13,759 carats during the period, reflecting an average price of $1,146 per carat, which was 35 percent lower from one year earlier. The company stated that the average price per carat was lower, in part, because there were fewer large diamonds in the sales mix. Diamond production rose 15 percent to 10,228 carats in the third quarter. James Campbell, the CEO of Rockwell, said, "Our production and sales performance continues to improve with record volume of both gravel mined and processed and carat sales from the Middle Orange River in the third quarter. A highlight for the quarter was bedding down of the earthmoving vehicle renewal plan and ongoing optimization of our in-field screens that helped us post a 60 percent increase in mining volume and 47 percent increase in gravel processed. The increase in volume processed offset the lower-grades and lower prices achieved for the rough product." At the Saxendrift operation, carat production fell 29 percent; however, sales rose 5 percent to $4.2 million from the sale of 2,442 carats of rough diamonds at a stable average of $1,707 per carat. At the company's Niewejaarskraal project, diamond production rose 252 percent to 1,444 carats and sales increased to $2.9 million compared with only $158,000 one year earlier. Rockwell's contract partners at Tirisano delivered 5,965 carats, up 59 percent year-on-year, and sales jumped 107 percent to $5.9 million.
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