London-listed Petra Diamonds expects to report production of 2.07-million carats of diamonds for the six months ended December 31.

In a trading update published on Monday, ahead of the release of its interim results on February 17, the miner noted that production for the six months had been about 3% higher than the 2.01-million carats produced in the six months ended December 31, 2018.

Petra said its Project 2022 optimisations had been paying off, with a record level of run-of-mine (RoM) tonnes having been mined in the six months under review.

The Cullinan mine achieved a 7% year-on-year increase in output to 889 787 ct, on the back of increased tonnages and volumes treated.

While there were two notable pit scaling events during the reporting period at the mine, they were pre-empted through ongoing pit wall monitoring and the company had initiated mitigating actions to ensure minimal impact on the mine.

Output at Petra’s Finsch mine, however, decreased by 4% year-on-year to 913 557 ct, owing to lower tonnages mined. The mine’s RoM grade of 57.4 carats per hundred tonnes (cpht), nevertheless, exceeded guidance of between 54 cpht and 57 cpht.

Meanwhile, the Koffiefontein achieved a 76% year-on-year increase in RoM production, at 44 545 ct in the six months under review, compared with the 25 275 ct produced in the six months ended December 31, 2018.

RoM tonnes treated from the operaton improved by 49% year-on-year to 561 296 t.

The Williamson mine, in Tanzania, achieved a 3% year-on-year increase in RoM production to 214 888 ct, demonstrating the continued stready operational delivery of the mine, said Petra.

After the interim reporting period ended, a pit slump of about 1.3-million tonnes occurred at Williamson on an area on the south western sector of the pit. The company confirmed that no harm had been incurred to staff or equipment following the incident.

Petra is confident of meeting its production guidance of 3.8-million carats for the full-year to June 30.

Meanwhile, revenue decreased by 6% year-on-year to $193-million for the reporting period, owing to lower diamond prices and compounded by a poorer product mix at Finsch and Williamson.

Most notably, the company had achieved a price of $79/ct from the Finsch mine in the six months under review, compared with $105/ct achieved in the prior comparable period, while it achieved a price of $184/ct from the Williamson mine, compared with $223/ct achieved from the mine in the prior comparable period.

However, this had been offset by the nearly $15-million sale of an exceptional blue diamond during the six months under review.

After lower diamond prices had affected the company’s revenue in the first half of the year, Petra had seen growing stability in pricing at the end of December.

Early indications are that rough pricing has improved modestly to date in the third quarter of the company’s financial year.

“The health of the market will depend on continued supply discipline from the majors, as well as macroeconomic conditions,” noted CEO Richard Duffy.

Meanwhile, the company’s Project 2022 initiative had been fully operational at all of its sites during the six months under review, with central teams focusing on overhead costs and strategic sourcing.

The work to date had entailed a structured assessment of the value drivers at each site.

The company expects the majority of these initiatives to move into full implementation, with cash flow benefits showing, during the second half of the current financial year to June 30.

So far, Project 2022 has enabled the company to report a record amount of half-year RoM production treated of seven-million tonnes, as well as 2.07-million RoM carats recovered.