Firestone Diamonds has published its diamond production performance for the quarter ended June 30, 2019. According to Rough & Polished, the miner’s production at its Liqhobong diamond mine in Lesotho totaled 208,572 carats, compared to 155,206 carats a year earlier. Firestone produced 829,458 carats during the fiscal year 2019.
Firestone sold 177,521 carats during the quarter, “lower than the third quarter’s 211,368 carats due to timing of sales”, according to the report. The miner raked in a revenue of $12.7 million at an average value of $71 per carat. The average value for fiscal year 2019 was $73 per carat, it said.
Firestone CEO Paul Bosma commented on the results: “From a market and pricing perspective, it was a tough financial year, particularly for the smaller, lower value goods and these conditions are expected to persist for the rest of 2019 and possibly improving during 2020 when global rough supply is expected to reduce”.
