Petra Diamonds Recovery of Five High Quality Blue Diamonds

 
TIDMPDL 
 
THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION 
 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
 
16 September 2020                                                            LSE: PDL 
 
                            Petra Diamonds Limited 
 
                    ("Petra", "the Company" or "the Group") 
 
       Recovery of Five High Quality Blue Diamonds at the Cullinan Mine 
 
               Update on Discussions with Financial Stakeholders 
 
Petra Diamonds Limited announces that it has recovered five Type IIb blue 
diamonds of high quality in terms of both their colour and clarity at the 
Cullinan mine in South Africa. The diamonds are also significant in terms of 
their size, being 25.75, 21.25, 17.57, 11.42 and 9.61 carats, and are assessed 
to be individual stones and not originally part of one larger diamond. 
 
Blue diamonds are so rare that there are no official statistics on their 
recovery, however the Cullinan mine is known as the world's most important 
source. The last blue diamond of significance was recovered a year ago at the 
mine in September 2019 and it is therefore even more unusual to recover five 
high quality stones around the same time, all in the space of one week's 
production. 
 
Given the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Company is 
maintaining a flexible approach to sales. It is therefore still evaluating the 
optimal route to market for the stones and the Company will release further 
information to its customer base on the marketing plan in due course. 
 
Petra continues to undertake discussions with the Ad Hoc Group of holders of 
the Group's Senior Secured Second Lien Notes ("AHG") and also with the South 
African lender group regarding a long term solution to improve the Group's 
capital structure. The Company will make a further announcement in relation to 
these discussions in due course. While the Company continues to have 
constructive engagement with the AHG and the lender group, there can be no 
certainty that these discussions will result in agreement being reached. 
 
In addition, these finds, whilst a positive development, will not have a 
material impact on the likely terms of the required long term solution to 
improve the Group's capital structure, nor the  significant level of equity 
dilution that existing shareholders are likely to experience in connection with 
its implementation. 
 
Photos of the blue diamonds can be viewed at www.petradiamonds.com/media/ 
image-library/diamonds and further information on the heritage of the Cullinan 
mine and its diamonds can be found at https://www.petradiamonds.com/about-us/ 
our-heritage/ . 
 
For further information, please contact: 
 
Petra Diamonds, London                   Telephone: [phone] 
 
Cathy Malins                             [e-mail] 
 
Marianna Bowes 
 
Des Kilalea 
 
The information contained within this announcement is considered by the Company 
to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse 
Regulations (EU) No.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. 
 
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 producing 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. 250 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 are listed on the Global 
Exchange market of the Irish Stock Exchange. For more information, visit 
www.petradiamonds.com. 
 
 
 
END 
 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 16, 2020 04:57 ET (08:57 GMT)