Petra Diamonds today said that sales for the first half of its financial year are down 6% at $193.9m (£148.3m) due, in part, to lower diamond prices.
But Petra said the drop was partially offset by the sale of a 20.08 carat blue diamond found at the Cullinan mine in South Africa for $14.9m.
It said there are early indications that rough diamond pricing has “improved modestly” during the third quarter.
Chief Executive Richard Duffy said, “I am very pleased with the progress made in implementing Project 2022 across our operations and at the corporate level. The buy-in to this project from all of our Petra employees and contractors has supported the strong operational performance across all sites, resulting in us achieving our highest level of run-of-mine tonnes mined and carats recovered over the last six months, and has positioned us to meet or exceed full-year guidance.
“It is also encouraging that rough diamond pricing has modestly improved moving into our third quarter. The health of the market will depend on continued supply discipline from the majors as well as macro-economic conditions.”
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