Junior diamond mining company Diamcor Mining has reported a net loss of about $1-million, or about $0.01 a share, for the quarter ended December 31, 2023.

This compares with a net loss of $386 619 in the third quarter of the prior financial year.

The company said at the release of its interim results on March 1 that the focus during the period continued to be the management of costs, the advancement of funding efforts to allow for the continuation of trial mining and the planned advancement of bulk sampling to determine the extent and location of the known displacement from the higher grounds of Venetia onto the greater portions of the company’s Krone-Endora at Venetia project, which is located in South Africa’s Limpopo province.

Diamcor said this focus was required in the short term owing to the negative effects of inconsistent power supply during the first half of 2023, along with a rebalancing of the rough diamond supply chain throughout the second half of 2023.

The focus was further spurred on by India’s decision to temporarily stop importing rough diamonds for a majority of the period in an effort to strengthen the industry in 2024 and beyond.

In total, Diamcor said ongoing trial mining exercises at the Krone-Endora project, from inception through to December 31, 2023, have resulted in the incidental recovery, tender and sale of 201 461.57 ct of rough diamonds, generating revenue of just less than $39-million at an average price of $192.52/ct.

The company reported that its operating expenses were reduced to $378 013 for the quarter under review, down significantly from about $1.8-million in the third quarter of the prior financial year, resulting in a gross margin of -$324 559.

The reduction of operational salary and wages expenses, variable operational costs and fixed costs were a key focus during the period, Diamcor said.

As a result of the industry’s short-term efforts to rebalance inventory levels and the cancellation of a majority of the planned rough diamond tenders during the period, Diamcor’s efforts largely shifted to trying to secure suitable funding to support the long-term growth of the Krone-Endora project.

No rough diamonds were tendered or sold during the quarter under review.