Rockwell Increases Carat Production 90% in Q1
June 26, 14
(IDEX Online News) – Rockwell Diamonds Inc. saw increased carat production across its projects in the first quarter. Carat production was up 90 percent for the quarter ended May 31, which also saw a 26 percent increase in the volume of gravel processed.
Rockwell Diamonds' Saxendrift Operation
This translates into 4,362 carats from Rockwell’s own operations and 4,800 carats from royalty mining contractors.
Overall, total carat sales increased 34 percent overall to 6,677 carats, sold at an average price of $1,312 per carat (down 14 percent from a year ago).
The company saw a 30 percent increase in sales from its operations in the Middle Orange River (MOR) and a 5-percent increase in the value of sales to $6.3 million.
Further, the average stone size during the quarter increased 18 percent from 3.8 carats in the prior year. Four +50-carat diamonds were recovered including a high-quality yellow MOR 103.08-carat stone.
Revenues from diamond sales (excluding beneficiation) increased 15 percent to C$8.8 million ($8.2 million).
Rockwell said it has a substantial inventory of 5,237 carats (including royalty contract miners inventory of 2,271 carats) carried over into second quarter of fiscal 2015.
“We saw a progressive improvement in production as a result of sticking to our MOR focused strategy during the first quarter,” said Rockwell president and CEO James Campbell. “These culminated in all-time record carat production for the company during the month of May 2014.”
Rockwell’s flagship mine is the Saxendrift Mine, in the Middle Orange River. It has recently built two new internally funded mines in the Middle Orange river region, the Saxendrift Hill Complex and the Niewejaarskraal Mine, which are both in production.