PETRA'S Williamson Diamond production has registered a 17-per cent increase this year being a four-decade high output.
The mine output,
according to Petra Diamond report, rose to 399,615 carats in year ending
June from...
341,102 carats similar period last year.
"The mine performed
well with production up 17 per cent, the highest level of production
achieved by the mine in over 40 years," the report issued on Tuesday
shows.
The firm said the best performance was despite operations being impacted by cash constraints.
"[The constraints
is] due to the parcel of 71,654 carats that remains blocked for export
and the overdue VAT receivables... ," the largest diamond mine based in
Mwadui, Shinyanga said.
The VAT overdue
stands at 32.9 million US dollars for a year ending June up from 24.2
million US dollars of similar period last year.
Nevertheless, the
diamond mine revenue increased by 36 per cent to 93 million US dollars
from 68.5 million US dollars. The revenue increase was attributed to
rise in "production and resultant higher sales volumes, offset by lower
prices per carat achieved."
The positive impact
on the unit cost of increased volumes treated was offset by the
normalisation of costs, following the severe cost cutting measures
implemented in last year required due to the mine's liquidity
constraints.
The total on-mine
cash cost for next year is guided at ca. 62 million US dollars while
capital expenditure for this year was 8.6 million US dollars mainly
related to in-pit waste stripping activities.
The mine despite
having been in operation since 1940, the pit is only 95 metres at its
deepest point due to the large size of the deposit.
No comments :
Post a Comment