One day after a reported 100 workers lost their jobs at the Ellendale diamond mine, Kimberley Diamonds has announced the mine has been closed and its subsidiary, Kimberley Diamond Company, placed in voluntary administration.
The ASX-listed company announced today it had placed Kimberley Diamond Company into the hands of representatives of Jirsch Sutherland, one day after placing its shares in a trading halt, which was shortly followed by a press release regarding the receipt of $5 million in a loan agreement and plans to recommission its Lerala mine in Botswana.
“While Kimberley has seen strong processing results at Ellendale in recent months and has initiated a number of successful cost-cutting initiatives, the company’s revenues have been negatively impacted by lower recovered grades and lower size distributions and, as a result, lower prices have been realised,” Kimberley’s statement read today.
The company said a recent auction held in Antwerp had yielded low returns, resulting from a sharp, unexpected decline in the diamond market.
“The voluntary suspension does not apply to Kimberley or its other subsidiaries which hold the interest in the Lerala diamond mine in Botswana or the Lomero-Poyatos project in Spain,” the parent company said.
Kimberley shares remain locked in a trading halt.
