Petra to Sell Finsch Mine After Failing to Find a Restart Option

Petra Diamonds will put its Finsch mine on the market after its business rescue practitioners were unable to find a viable method for restarting operations.

The company’s lenders have approved a plan to sell off all of the South African deposit’s assets to “recover the maximum amount of value possible for Finsch’s creditors,” it said in an update Friday.

Petra has received some funding from a secured creditor that will enable it to conduct limited activities at the mine to prepare it for sale, including the reclamation of assets. Any money received from selling assets will be distributed according to the ranking of claims, with the secured creditor coming first.

The miner will also be allowed to implement a skeleton crew at the site for a predefined period to enable the asset reclamation, it explained.

Petra first announced it would close Finsch and put it into business rescue at the end of May, saying it wanted to tighten its spending amid the prolonged diamond downturn. The mine produced smaller-sized stones, which are currently under pressure in the market. Instead, the company plans to focus its finances on its last remaining asset, the Cullinan mine in South Africa, which produces larger, higher-value diamonds.

Finsch is the latest of Petra’s assets to fall victim to the depressed diamond market. It offloaded the Williamson mine in Tanzania last year amid liquidity challenges, and sold its other South African deposit, Koffiefontein, in 2024 after suspending production at the site the year before.

Image: The ore conveyor belt at the Finsch mine. (Petra Diamonds)