Aim-listed BlueRock Diamonds has raised about £350 000 through the issue of 29.17-million ordinary shares at a price of 1.2p a share.
In addition to strengthening the balance sheet, the company will use the larger part of the proceeds to expedite the development of Pipe 1 at its Kareevlei mine, in the Northern Cape.
Pipe 1 is very similar in geology and size to Pipe 2, but has an inferred grade of 6.3 carats per hundred tonnes, 40% higher than the inferred grade of Pipe 2.
In March, the company announced its intention to open mining operations in Pipe 1 and to be mining kimberlite from Pipe 1 during the third quarter.
BlueRock is ahead of schedule in its development of Pipe 1, with 107 000 t of waste already mined, and the first kimberlite blast expected in the next three to four weeks.
The company has now implemented the changes to the crushing circuit envisaged at the time of its last fund raising and is now averaging around 1 350 t/d. The final changes to the crushing plant will be completed in June and the company expects daily volumes to increase further.
“We are pleased that the changes to our crushing circuit have achieved the desired result but we continue to seek ways of increasing production levels further,” CEO Adam Waugh said in a statement on Thursday.
The company’s guidance for the year remains unchanged.