Stornoway Reports Q1 FY2016 Net Loss as Renard Nears Completion

(IDEX Online News) – The Stornoway Diamond Corporation has announced the results for the first quarter ended March 31, which included a progress report on the Renard Diamond Project.

The company reported that construction progress at Renard stood at 83.4-percent complete compared to the re-baselined plan of 77.6 percent at the end of the quarter, and at 92.1 percent compared to 84.1 percent at the end of April.

Renard 2-3 and Renard 65 open pits produced 7,504, 923 tons of ore, 102 percent of the plan, with 194,416 tons of ore stockpiled. Underground mine development stood at 1,218 meters or 74 percent of the plan.

Stornoway’s net loss over the period increased to $22.6 million compared to $8.5 million at the end of the three months ended April 30, 2015. The company said that the increase was down to a number of factors including unrealized gains and losses from foreign exchange.

“Construction at Renard during, and subsequent to, the first quarter has continued to exceed expectations,” said Stornoway president and CEO Matt Manson.

“Progress in March and April alone was an impressive 9.4 percent and 8.7 percent respectively. This puts up well within the already re-baselined schedule for first ore processing by the end of September… our critical path activity has become mining and supply of ore on a schedule commensurate with the earlier-than-expected plant availability.”

The Renard Diamond Project is located 350 kilometers north of Chibougamau in the James Bay region of north-central Québec.