[miningmx.com] – PETRA Diamonds is to scale back two mines and shut
another after attempts to sell the operations failed, said BDLive citing a company
announcement.
The mines – Sedibeng, Star and Helam – known in the company as “fissure mines’
were the least profiable held by the UK-listed firm. Talks have been underway for
more than a year to sell them in order to preserve jobs.
Petra said it was too soon to say whether Sedibeng and Star mines would be shut, but
there was an attempt to return Helam to profitability.
The mines formed the basis of Petra Diamonds when it started. However, the
company has since benefited from buying mines from De Beers including Cullinan and
the Kimberley underground operations.
Petra Diamonds CEO, Johan Dippenaar, said the company would achieve its annual
output target of 2.65 million carats for its current financial year.
Petra posted a 4% improvement in diamond production in the March quarter, said
BDLive. It produced 647,248 carats in the quarter, up from 622,508 carats in the
corresponding quarter of the previous financial year.
Some five million carats a year was being targeted by Petra Diamonds by the 2019
financial year.
