Firestone Diamonds saw revenue falter in its fourth fiscal quarter amid a slowdown in demand for rough goods.
The company sold 125,556 carats of diamonds from its Liqhobong mine in Lesotho for $12.6 million in the three months that ended June 30, at an average price of $101 per carat, it said last week. That compares to revenue of $20.6 million from the sale of 193,212 carats in the third quarter, when the market was more robust. For that period, the miner realized an average price of $107 per carat. Output from April to June came to 169,512 carats, 6% lower than the previous quarter.
Firestone has no comparable data from the previous year, as the miner restarted operations in October after placing the deposit on care and maintenance in March 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The company completed a refinancing agreement with its debtholder, Absa, in January. The amount owed stood at $131.1 million on June 30, compared with $125.8 million on December 31.
Image: The Liqhobong mine. (Firestone Diamonds)
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