Under the DiamondCorp offtake agreement, first diamonds were sold to Tiffany & Co. subsidiary Laurelton Diamonds.
For gross proceeds of $278,574.30, a total of 6442.04 carats were sold representing sales proceeds of $43/carat.
The diamonds sold involved 5,026.72 carats and 1,415.32 carats of diamonds recovered after the modifications comprised a coarser stone size distribution and achieved a price of $63/carat.
By the end of January 2014, the company is proceeding with a ramp up to a three-shift operation.
Development is fully financed for the 47 level block cave for the underground mine at Lace diamond mine, which is operated by DiamondCorp (74%) and remaining 26% is held by Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) Partners, which include Sphere Investments and Shanduka Resources.
The diamond mine is located near the town of Kroonstad in the region of Free State, in South Africa and lies about 200km south-west of the capital.
