Kimberley Diamonds slumps further

Kimberley Diamonds has replaced its managing director after a horror month during which the company's share price plunged more than 75 per cent.

The Sydney-headquartered miner, whose Perth-based subsidiary Kimberley Diamond Company owns the Ellendale diamond project in Western Australia, told the market today it had appointed mining engineer Noel Halgreen to replace Lee-Anne de Bruin as managing director.

Meanwhile, deputy chairman Albert Wong has resigned from the board, while chairman Alex Alexander's role has been made a non-executive position.

KDL shares were trading at $1.16 in mid-April but took a hit when the company announced it had deferred a planned capital raising due to "prevailing market conditions".

The company took a further blow when it announced earlier this month that negotiations to secure a price increase for its supply of diamonds to global jeweller Tiffany & Co had been unsuccessful.

KDL was banking on a price increase to sustain continued development at its Ellendale E9 pit and to support the reopening of the Ellendale E4 pit later that year.

The company had expected to secure a price increase and had booked it into its earnings guidance provided to the market, which meant it had to lower its forecast revenue when the negotiations failed.

Shareholders reacted negatively again to today's news of the board restructure.

KDL shares fell a further 20 per cent to close at just 27 cents.