Gem Diamonds posts record results, but withholds dividend

Shares in Africa focused Gem Diamonds took a hit on Wednesday as the miner disappointed investors by withholding its full year dividend, citing uncertainty about the global diamond industry as one of the main reasons.

The London-listed miner, which reported a sharp increase in annual profit thanks to record recoveries of large diamonds, said it had decided to strengthen its balance sheet rather than pay a dividend,“following a review of the current state of the global market.”

The company’s stock dropped as much as 7.8% to 88.6p on the news and was still trading lower (-6.25%) in London mid-afternoon,  extending its year to date decline to around 19%.

The diamond miner reported a sharp increase in annual profit thanks to record recoveries of large stones, but decided to strengthen its balance sheet rather than pay a dividend.Gem Diamonds reported a profit for the year of about $47 million, significantly more than the almost $21 million achieved, before exceptional items, in 2017.
Underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization increased from $48.6 million in 2017 to $82.3 million in 2018, while earnings a share surged from 6.56c to 18.8c in the same period.

Gem Diamonds recovered 126,875 carats from its flagship Letšeng mine in Lesotho, the world’s highest dollar per carat diamond mine. Average value achieved was $2,131/ct or 10% more than the previous year.
The miner gets 80% of its revenue from diamonds larger than 10 carats, and 11% of its income comes from diamonds ranging between five and 10 carats in size. The balance of revenue is brought by smaller diamonds.
Thanks to that structure, it was not as exposed to the effects of weak prices and demand for tinier, lower-value stones as its peers, including De Beers, Alrosa and Petra Diamonds.

Gem, in fact, sold a total of 125,111 carats during the 2018 financial year, generating revenue of $267.3 million.
Letšeng mine produced a record 15 diamonds larger than 100 carats, including its largest ever diamond, the 910-carat “Lesotho Legend”, which sold for $40 million. The precious rock was the fifth largest ever found.
Since acquiring the operation in 2006, Gem Diamonds has found five of the 20 largest white gem quality diamonds ever recovered, which makes the mine the world’s highest dollar per carat kimberlite diamond operation.

At an average elevation of 3,100 metres (10,000 feet) above sea level, Letšeng is also one of the world’s highest diamond mines.

The biggest diamond ever found was the 3,106-carat Cullinan, dug near Pretoria, South Africa, in 1905. It was later cut into several stones, including the First Star of Africa and the Second Star of Africa, which are part of Britain’s Crown Jewels held in the Tower of London.

Source: DCLA

Gem Diamonds posts record results, but withholds dividend

Shares in Africa focused Gem Diamonds took a hit on Wednesday as the miner disappointed investors by withholding its full year dividend, citing uncertainty about the global diamond industry as one of the main reasons.

The London-listed miner, which reported a sharp increase in annual profit thanks to record recoveries of large diamonds, said it had decided to strengthen its balance sheet rather than pay a dividend,“following a review of the current state of the global market.”

The company’s stock dropped as much as 7.8% to 88.6p on the news and was still trading lower (-6.25%) in London mid-afternoon,  extending its year to date decline to around 19%.

The diamond miner reported a sharp increase in annual profit thanks to record recoveries of large stones, but decided to strengthen its balance sheet rather than pay a dividend.Gem Diamonds reported a profit for the year of about $47 million, significantly more than the almost $21 million achieved, before exceptional items, in 2017.
Underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization increased from $48.6 million in 2017 to $82.3 million in 2018, while earnings a share surged from 6.56c to 18.8c in the same period.

Gem Diamonds recovered 126,875 carats from its flagship Letšeng mine in Lesotho, the world’s highest dollar per carat diamond mine. Average value achieved was $2,131/ct or 10% more than the previous year.
The miner gets 80% of its revenue from diamonds larger than 10 carats, and 11% of its income comes from diamonds ranging between five and 10 carats in size. The balance of revenue is brought by smaller diamonds.
Thanks to that structure, it was not as exposed to the effects of weak prices and demand for tinier, lower-value stones as its peers, including De Beers, Alrosa and Petra Diamonds.

Gem, in fact, sold a total of 125,111 carats during the 2018 financial year, generating revenue of $267.3 million.
Letšeng mine produced a record 15 diamonds larger than 100 carats, including its largest ever diamond, the 910-carat “Lesotho Legend”, which sold for $40 million. The precious rock was the fifth largest ever found.
Since acquiring the operation in 2006, Gem Diamonds has found five of the 20 largest white gem quality diamonds ever recovered, which makes the mine the world’s highest dollar per carat kimberlite diamond operation.

At an average elevation of 3,100 metres (10,000 feet) above sea level, Letšeng is also one of the world’s highest diamond mines.

The biggest diamond ever found was the 3,106-carat Cullinan, dug near Pretoria, South Africa, in 1905. It was later cut into several stones, including the First Star of Africa and the Second Star of Africa, which are part of Britain’s Crown Jewels held in the Tower of London.

Source: DCLA

Petra Diamonds shares jump after another discovery at Cullinan

South Africa’s Petra Diamonds has found a 100.83 carat gem quality diamond at its iconic Cullinan mine in South Africa.
The D colour, Type II diamond follows the recent recovery of a 6.12 carat Type II blue stone, also at Cullinan.

The company has piled up debt after building a new plant and digging deeper at its flagship Cullinan diamond mine.“The recoveries demonstrate the prevalence of these types of stones in the Cullinan orebody as well as the ability of the mine’s plant to recover the full spectrum of diamonds,” Petra said.

The company, which appointed last month former gold miner Richard Duffy as chief executive, said that both stones would be included in its upcoming March tender.

Shares climbed as much as 10.5% after the announcement, closing at 21.2p in London on Friday.

Petra has been seeking to turn around its fortunes after piling up debt to expand Cullinan, where the world’s biggest ever diamond was found in 1905.

Source: DCLA

Petra Diamonds shares jump after another discovery at Cullinan

South Africa’s Petra Diamonds has found a 100.83 carat gem quality diamond at its iconic Cullinan mine in South Africa.
The D colour, Type II diamond follows the recent recovery of a 6.12 carat Type II blue stone, also at Cullinan.

The company has piled up debt after building a new plant and digging deeper at its flagship Cullinan diamond mine.“The recoveries demonstrate the prevalence of these types of stones in the Cullinan orebody as well as the ability of the mine’s plant to recover the full spectrum of diamonds,” Petra said.

The company, which appointed last month former gold miner Richard Duffy as chief executive, said that both stones would be included in its upcoming March tender.

Shares climbed as much as 10.5% after the announcement, closing at 21.2p in London on Friday.

Petra has been seeking to turn around its fortunes after piling up debt to expand Cullinan, where the world’s biggest ever diamond was found in 1905.

Source: DCLA

Study Reveals Potential of Star Diamond Project

Star Diamond Corporation has noted a large quantity of high-value and large rough stones at its two exploration sites in Canada, sending its stock price shooting upward.

Nearly 27% of diamonds at its Star project are type IIa, a category that represents less than 2% of all rough diamonds mined from kimberlites, the company reported Monday.

The proportion of that category at its Orion South kimberlite is 13%, it said following a major study of goods it had recovered from the locations.

The company identified a 49.09-carat diamond from Star, and a 32.35-carat stone from Orion South. It also recovered two diamonds that were smaller but more valuable: An 11.96-carat stone from Star worth $11,333 per carat, and a 15.88-carat diamond from Orion South that it valued at $2,800 per carat.

“The presence of two high-value diamond groups (octahedra and type IIa) greatly strengthens the future potential-production diamond pricing from the Star and Orion South kimberlites,” said George Read, Star Diamond’s senior vice president of exploration and development.

The company’s share price rose 9% in early trading Monday.

Source: DCLA

Study Reveals Potential of Star Diamond Project

Star Diamond Corporation has noted a large quantity of high-value and large rough stones at its two exploration sites in Canada, sending its stock price shooting upward.

Nearly 27% of diamonds at its Star project are type IIa, a category that represents less than 2% of all rough diamonds mined from kimberlites, the company reported Monday.

The proportion of that category at its Orion South kimberlite is 13%, it said following a major study of goods it had recovered from the locations.

The company identified a 49.09-carat diamond from Star, and a 32.35-carat stone from Orion South. It also recovered two diamonds that were smaller but more valuable: An 11.96-carat stone from Star worth $11,333 per carat, and a 15.88-carat diamond from Orion South that it valued at $2,800 per carat.

“The presence of two high-value diamond groups (octahedra and type IIa) greatly strengthens the future potential-production diamond pricing from the Star and Orion South kimberlites,” said George Read, Star Diamond’s senior vice president of exploration and development.

The company’s share price rose 9% in early trading Monday.

Source: DCLA

Alrosa recovers 98 carat gem quality rough diamond

The world’s top diamond producer by output, Alrosa, has unearthed a rough diamond weighing 98.8 carats at Zapolyarnaya kimberlite pipe, which is the part of Russia’s Verkhne Munskoye diamond deposit.

The rock, a unique transparent one with a visible yellow shade and of gem quality, is the second major find since the launch of the deposit last October, Alrosa said.

“The find speaks about the great potential of the Verkhne Munskoye deposit,” Evgeny Agureev, member of the management board, director of the united selling organization, said in the statement. “Not every kimberlite pipe regularly brings large diamonds over 50 carats.

Especially when it comes to such a large crystal, like this one weighing almost 100 carats.”
The first large gem quality diamond, weighing 51.49 carats, was mined there in October last year.

The Verkhne Munskoye deposit is expected to yield about 1.8 million carats of rough diamonds per year.

According to Alrosa, its reserves are sufficient to continue mining for more than 20 years until 2042.

Last month, the company found a white rough diamond weighing nearly 200 carats at its Udachnaya pipe, its largest find in more than two years. The asset ranks among the largest primary diamond deposits both in Yakutia and abroad.

Alrosa produces close to 40 million carats of diamonds annually from its Russian mines, or about 27% of the world’s total. That’s 18% more than its closest competitor, Anglo American’s De Beers.

Source: DCLA