Petra Diamonds Ltd - Trading Update for the Six Months ended 31 December 2020

PR Newswire

London, January 18

19 January 2021  LSE: PDL

Petra Diamonds Limited

("Petra" or the "Company" or the “Group”)

Trading Update for the Six Months ended 31 December 2020

Petra Diamonds Limited announces the following Trading Update (unaudited) for the six months ended 31 December 2020 (the “Period”, “H1 FY 2021” or “H1”), ahead of the publication of the Company’s Interim Results for the Period on 16 February 2021.

SUMMARY

Capital Restructuring

Outlook

H1 FY 2021 Sales, Production and Capex – Summary

Unit H1 FY 2021 H1 FY 2020 Variance FY 2020
Sales
Diamonds sold Carats 1,712,797 1,743,807 -2% 2,895,497
Gross revenue US$M 178.1 193.9 -8% 295.8
Production
ROM tonnes Mt 4.2 7.0 -40% 11.5
Tailings & other1 tonnes Mt 0.2 0.5 -60% 0.8
Total tonnes treated Mt 4.4 7.5 -41% 12.3
ROM diamonds Carats 1,644,846 1,995,512 -18% 3,442,593
Tailings & other1 diamonds Carats 96,016 74,728 +28% 146,583
Total diamonds Carats 1,740,862 2,070,240 -16% 3,589,176
Capex
Expansion US$m 6.3 15.9 -60% 21.8
Sustaining US$m 2.3 9.7 -76% 14.6
Borrowing costs capitalised US$m 0.0 0.0 - -
Total US$m 8.6 25.6 -66% 36.4
  1. 'Other' includes alluvial diamond mining at Williamson.

Richard Duffy, Chief Executive of Petra Diamonds, commented:

“We are living through a time of great uncertainty as a result of COVID-19, which has put considerable pressure on the business and all of our employees. I am grateful for the continued fortitude and resilience of our entire Petra team in the face of this challenge and extend our sincerest condolences to the families and friends of the four employees who have tragically lost their lives to COVID-19.

I am delighted that we have now secured the support of our noteholders, lenders and shareholders for the proposed restructuring of the Group’s balance sheet, which will formally complete in the coming weeks following the receipt of the requisite regulatory approval. This marks a significant milestone in putting the Company on a sustainable footing going forward. The improvement in the market, with prices from our January sale now back at pre-COVID levels, is very encouraging and will provide some support as we look to optimise the value of our asset base.

Our operations in South Africa, and Cullinan in particular, continue to perform well despite emerging operational challenges at Finsch, resulting from waste ingress, that has negatively impacted on its carat production. Mitigation plans have been developed and are currently being implemented to address this. Williamson remains under care and maintenance and we are considering various options to resume mining operations.”

COMMENTARY

Health and safety

Production

As announced on 22 December 2020, the Finsch mine has experienced higher than expected levels of waste ingress in a number of the upper levels of the Block 5 Sub Level Cave, which has served to negatively impact the recovered grade. The Company has been going through a detailed exercise to better understand this issue and has put a plan in place to mitigate the impact. In the short term, this will include a revision to the draw strategy to limit planned draw tonnage for the next four months, a build-up of inventory rings to allow for increased blasting from March 2021, and a change to the drill and blast designs to optimise ore extraction. In the longer term, the Company will also investigate ore mixing programmes to better assist with the prediction of waste ingress. A combination of the reduced ore tonnage extraction (further to the dilution caused by the waste material ingress) and a lower grade is expected to lead to Finsch’s production for FY 2021 being ca. 15% lower in carat volumes than the Company’s internal plan.

During H1 FY 2021, the areas surrounding the Finsch mine experienced above average rainfall. Due to the excessive amount of rainfall and an influx of water into the pit, pit wall failures were experienced on the northern side of the pit. These failures have not impacted production to date, but they may have a future impact on the stability of the decline from surface which also serves as the second escape route from the underground operations. Measures to mitigate the impact on the second escape route are being put in place and include the re-commissioning of a temporary hoisting facility from surface down to the 70 level.

Project 2022 Update

Diamond market and sales

Diamond Sales and Prices


Mine
Actual

H1 FY 2021
(US$/ct)
Actual

H1 FY 2020
(US$/ct)
Actual

FY 2020
(US$/ct)
Cullinan 120 112 98
Finsch 71 79 75
Koffiefontein 590 431 387
Williamson 150 184 177

Corporate and Financial

Unit 31 December 2020 30 September 2020 30 June
2020
31 December 2019
Closing exchange rate used for conversion R14.69:US$1 R16.73:US$1 R17.32:US$1 R13.99:US$1
Cash at bank US$m 106.3 63.4 67.6 53.6
Diamond inventories1 US$m
Carats
103.6
1,385,402
90.2
1,394,825
84.1
1,357,584
85.2
992,425
Diamond debtors US$m 3.7 19.1 4.8 12.8
US$650 million loan notes (including deferred coupon payments) US$m 697.1 673.6 673.6 650.0
Bank loans and borrowings US$m 61.2 53.8 52.0 0.0
Bank facilities undrawn and available US$m 0.0 0.0 0.0 107.2
Consolidated net debt2,3 US$m 695.5 687.8 693.2 632.9

Notes:

  1. Recorded at the lower of cost and net realisable value.
  2. Consolidated Net Debt is bank loans and borrowings plus loan notes, less cash, less diamond debtors and includes the Black Economic Empowerment guarantees of ca. US$47.2 million (ZAR692.8 million) as at 31 December 2020 (ca. US$42.9 million (ZAR717.2 million) as at 30 September 2020 and ca. US$40.0 million (ZAR693.6 million) as at 30 June 2020).
  3. In terms of the Amendment Agreement entered into on 29 May 2020, Petra and the South African lender group have agreed that covenant measurements will not be undertaken for the period ending 31 December 2020.

The information communicated in this announcement is inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation 596/2014. Upon the publication of this announcement via a Regulatory Information Service, this inside information will be considered to be in the public domain. The person responsible for arranging for the release of this announcement on behalf of the Company is Jacques Breytenbach, Finance Director.

Notes:

  1. The production and financial results in this announcement are adjusted to exclude the results of KEM JV, which has been reclassified as a discontinued operation following the proposed disposal, announced in July 2018.
  2. The following definitions have been used in this announcement:
  1. cpht: carats per hundred tonnes
  2. CY: calendar year
  3. Kcts: thousand carats
  4. Kt: thousand tonnes
  5. Mcts: million carats
  6. Mt: million tonnes
  7. FY: financial year
  8. Q: quarter of the financial year
  9. ROM: run-of-mine (i.e. production from the primary orebody)
  10. SLC: sub level cave

~ Ends ~

For further information, please contact:

Petra Diamonds, London                                         Telephone: +44 20 7494 8203

Cathy Malins

Des Kilalea     

Marianna Bowes                                                         investorrelations@petradiamonds.com

About Petra Diamonds Limited

Petra Diamonds is a leading independent diamond mining group and a consistent supplier of gem quality rough diamonds to the international market. The Company has a diversified portfolio incorporating interests in three underground producing mines in South Africa (Finsch, Cullinan and Koffiefontein) and one open pit mine in Tanzania (Williamson).

Petra's strategy is to focus on value rather than volume production by optimising recoveries from its high-quality asset base in order to maximise their efficiency and profitability. The Group has a significant resource base of ca. 243 million carats, which supports the potential for long-life operations.

Petra conducts all operations according to the highest ethical standards and will only operate in countries which are members of the Kimberley Process. The Company aims to generate tangible value for each of its stakeholders, thereby contributing to the socio-economic development of its host countries and supporting long-term sustainable operations to the benefit of its employees, partners and communities.

Petra is quoted with a premium listing on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange under the ticker 'PDL' and is a constituent of the FTSE4Good Index. The Company’s US$650 million loan notes due in 2022, currently subject to restructuring, are listed on the Global Exchange market of the Irish Stock Exchange. For more information, visit www.petradiamonds.com.

APPENDIX – MINE BY MINE PRODUCTION TABLES

Cullinan – South Africa

Unit H1 FY 2021 H1 FY 2020 Variance FY 2020
Sales
Revenue US$M 107.3 81.7 +31% 116.5
Diamonds sold Carats 894,758 730,847 +22% 1,183,745
Average price per carat1 US$ 120 112 +7% 98
ROM Production
Tonnes treated Tonnes 2,339,473 2,295,197 +2% 3,972,682
Diamonds produced Carats 913,626 855,371 +7% 1,482,482
Grade cpht 39.1 37.3 +5% 37.3
Tailings Production
Tonnes treated Tonnes 221,385 117,112 +89% 257,549
Diamonds produced Carats 96,016 34,416 +179% 95,918
Grade Cpht 43.4 29.4 +48% 37.2
Total Production
Tonnes treated Tonnes 2,560,858 2,412,309 +6% 4,230,231
Diamonds produced Carats 1,009,642 889,787 +13% 1,578,400
Capex
Expansion Capex US$m 5.2 10.0 -48% 13.0
Sustaining Capex US$m 0.7 2.0 -65% 3.4
Borrowing Costs Capitalised US$m 0.0 0.0 - 0.0
Total Capex US$m 5.9 12.0 -51% 16.4

Notes:

  1. The Company is not able to precisely measure the ROM / tailings grade split because ore from both sources is processed through the same plant; the Company therefore back-calculates the grade with reference to resource grades.

Finsch – South Africa

Unit H1 FY 2021 H1 FY 2020 Variance FY 2020
Sales
Revenue US$M 54.8 61.7 -11% 101.1
Diamonds sold Carats 768,647 783,962 -2% 1,348,181
Average price per carat US$ 71 79 -9% 75
ROM Production
Tonnes treated Tonnes 1,323,000 1,534,256 -14% 2,719,389
Diamonds produced Carats 695,308 880,707 -21% 1,603,678
Grade1 cpht 52.6 57.4 -8% 59.0
Tailings Production
Tonnes treated Tonnes 0 174,167 -100% 211,541
Diamonds produced Carats 0 32,850 -100% 39,890
Grade1 cpht 0 18.9 -100% 18.9
Total Production
Tonnes treated Tonnes 1,323,000 1,708,423 -23% 2,930,930
Diamonds produced Carats 695,308 913,557 -24% 1,643,568
Capex
Expansion Capex US$m 0.8 4.2 -81% 6.1
Sustaining Capex US$m 0.5 1.4 -64% 2.3
Borrowing Costs Capitalised US$m 0.0 0.0 - 0.0
Total Capex US$m 1.3 5.6 -77% 8.4

Note:

  1. The ROM / tailings grade split is theoretical and based on the resource grades as ore from both sources is processed through the same plant.

Koffiefontein – South Africa

Unit H1 FY 2021 H1 FY 2020 Variance FY 2020
Sales
Revenue US$M 11.2 14.7 -24% 25.7
Diamonds sold Carats 18,944 34,163 -45% 66,326
Average price per carat US$ 590 431 +37% 387
ROM Production
Tonnes treated Tonnes 493,661 561,296 -12% 891,705
Diamonds produced Carats 35,912 44,545 -19% 69,077
Grade cpht 7.3 7.9 -8% 7.7
Total Production
Tonnes treated Tonnes 493,661 561,296 -12% 891,705
Diamonds produced Carats 35,912 44,545 -19% 69,077
Capex
Expansion Capex US$m 0.3 1.7 -82% 2.7
Sustaining Capex US$m 0.3 0.6 -50% 1.1
Total Capex US$m 0.6 2.3 -74% 3.8

Williamson – Tanzania

Unit H1 FY 2021 H1 FY 2020 Variance FY 2020
Sales
Revenue US$M 4.6 35.9 -87% 52.5
Diamonds sold Carats 30,339 194,835 -84% 297,245
Average price per carat US$ 150 184 -18% 177
ROM Production
Tonnes treated Tonnes 0 2,654,906 -100% 3,980,438
Diamonds produced Carats 0 222,351 -100% 287,356
Grade cpht 0 8.1 -100% 7.2
Alluvial Production
Tonnes treated Tonnes 0 198,698 -100% 302,567
Diamonds produced Carats 0 7,463 -100% 10,774
Grade cpht 0 3.8 -100% 3.6
Total Production
Tonnes treated Tonnes 0 2,853,604 -100% 4,283,005
Diamonds produced Carats 0 222,351 -100% 298,130
Capex
Expansion Capex US$m 0.0 0.0 0% 0.0
Sustaining Capex US$m 0.3 5.7 -95% 8.0
Total Capex US$m 0.3 5.7 -95% 8.0