Southstone Minerals (SML) says it produced 94 diamonds weighing 144.24 carats at its Oena Diamond Mine in South Africa during the second quarter of the fiscal year 2021.
It said the diamonds recorded an average price of $1,105 per carat.
In the first quarter, SML’s operations were at 38% of capacity due to holiday-related breaks, COVID-19 related matters and extremely high water in the Orange River which prevented access to the Sandberg area for much of the period.
“There is currently one mining contractor on-site with four pan plants, of which two are currently in operation, to process run of mine (ROM) material and one Bourevestnik unit used for diamond recovery,” it said.
“Mining and processing of ROM material only occurred from Oena area during the period…”
Diamonds sold at Oena during the first quarter include an 8.47 carat, which was snapped for $30,797 or $3,636 per carat, a 6.22 carat for $20,155 or $3, 233 per carat and a 7.77 carat for $11,027 or $1,418.
Meanwhile, Southstone said production at the Gumrock Joint Venture during the second quarter of 2021 operated at greater than 47% of capacity due to significant delays caused by rain.
The joint venture produced 18 diamond weighing 26.36 carats in the second and third quarter valued at an average price of $962 per carat.