Canadian mining company Diamcor Mining’s gross revenues from tenders and sales held in its fourth fiscal quarter, ended March 31, increased to $1.3-million – a 21% increase over the previous quarter, from its Krone-Endora at Venetia project in South Africa.

Total sales during the fourth quarter decreased by 12% to 4 787.89 ct, compared with the 5 441.88 ct sold in the previous quarter.

This, however, was largely owing to the timing of tenders during the fourth quarter, and the decision by the company in March to retain and instead offer about 2 000 ct at upcoming tenders during the current quarter, Diamcor says.

Despite the lower volume sold during the period, the average dollar per carat of $271.93 achieved during the period increased by 38% over the previous quarter.

The increase in the average price per carat achieved during the period was primarily owing to significant price increases experienced early in the quarter which appear to be the result of rough diamond shortages in various categories, Diamcor points out. 

ACCELERATED UPGRADES

Diamcor also notes that its efforts to increase current processing volumes at Krone-Endora at Venetia mine and efficiencies during the last quarter continued, and further results of these efforts are expected to be realised during the current quarter.

The reconfiguration and installation of the project’s X-ray diamond sorting units and final recovery systems remained a priority during the quarter, and these efforts, along with the installation of additional screening systems now nearing completion, remain on schedule to advance the company’s continued increases in processing volumes.

These accelerated upgrades position the company to take advantage of any potential rough diamond shortages associated with on-going international sanctions, which may impact a significant portion of the world’s rough diamonds supply originating in Russia, Diamcor says.     

The installation of additional screening equipment to complement the previously completed Phase 1 upgrades and specifically increase efficiencies in the removal of soil and clay fines at the project’s main treatment plant are now nearing completion.

These refinements are expected to be operational prior to the end of April and to increase current hourly feed rates and processing volumes by about 60%.

Initial revisions to the project’s water recovery systems aimed at supporting additional tonnage have also been completed.

The construction and delivery of a larger purpose-built water recovery system continues to progress on schedule, with delivery targeted prior to the end of the current quarter.

All water recovery system additions are designed to, ultimately, lower water consumption on a per-ton basis through improvements in the recovery of wastewater, and provide the potential for further increases to processing volumes moving forward.

In addition to providing the potential to increase processing volumes, the screening upgrades are expected to have the added benefit of lowering the project’s operating costs on a per-ton basis by reducing consumables owing to added screening efficiencies.

Materials handling and equipment cycle times are also expected to improve.

The collective upgrades completed to date have retained much of their original design and scope to ensure they continue to support the company’s ongoing larger growth plans.

The installation of the upgrades to date have been completed in conjunction with ongoing processing as envisioned, and have not caused any material disruptions to operations.