JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Aim-listed BlueRock Diamonds has raised about £500 000, before expenses, through the issue of 33.33-million shares of 1p each.
Each new share issued will be accompanied by a warrant to subscribe for a further new share at a price of 3p.
BlueRock will use the larger part of the proceeds to develop and expand its mining activities, which have, to date, been centred around Pipe 2 at its Kareevlei diamond mine in Kimberley, in the Northern Cape.
The company will start preparing Pipe 1, which has a similar geology to Pipe 2, and incorporate it into the mine plan.
The closest point of Pipe 1 is 40 m from Pipe 2. Pipe 1 is also similar in size to Pipe 2, but has an inferred grade of 6.3 carats per hundred tonnes (cpht) – 40% higher than the inferred grade of Pipe 2, which has an inferred grade of 4.5 cpht.
Having established that the company is able to mine Pipe 2 profitably, the BlueRock board is taking measures to enhance the company’s profitability, by seeking to increase the recovered grade at Kareevlei from the current expectation of between 3.5 cpht and 4.5 cpht, as well as ensure that the 2018 production target of 275 000 t remains at the bottom end of the company’s range of expectations.
“Opening up Pipe 1 will offer us flexibility in our mine planning as operations expand at Kareevlei. These funds will allow us to do the necessary preparation to Pipe 1 and put us in a position to be mining kimberlite from Pipe 1 during the third quarter of this year,” stated BlueRock CEO Adam Waugh.