Highlights
The Group reduced its net debt position by
Average price for the Period was
16 diamonds sold for more than
LetSeng returned to its standard treatment capacity during Q2 2020 after temporarily suspending operations for 30 days in line with the Lesotho Government's regulations to curb the spread of the Covid-19 virus.
The smaller sized diamonds from the June tender have been carried over and will be sold in September. The average dollar per carat for H1 2020 includes an estimated value of these diamonds.
Covid-19
In compliance with the Lesotho Government's lockdown order, LetSeng temporarily suspended operations between 28 March and
The Group has implemented a wide range of precautions to protect its employees and contractors, based upon expert advice. These Covid-19 health and safety measures include thermal screening, X-ray screening, Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) screening, promotion of sanitation measures, appropriate social distancing, compulsory wearing of face masks and the provision of Personal Protective Equipment.
To date, LetSeng's advanced screening protocol has resulted in 74 suspected Covid-19 cases. As part of the Covid management strategy, all suspected cases have been safely transferred to their respective residences for self-quarantining and thus no suspected positive cases remain on mine site. Sadly, two employees have subsequently passed away whilst in quarantine, but these have yet to be confirmed by the
LetSeng continues to provide support to its workforce and surrounding communities and assistance to the Government in its efforts to curb the spread of the virus in
There has been one positive case reported from the Gem Diamonds office in
In addition to the two successful tenders held in Q1 2020, a third tender was successfully concluded in
The full impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on LetSeng's operations and production outlook for 2020 remains uncertain. Revised guidance will be released when the Company has greater clarity on the market environment.
Gem Diamonds' CEO,
We are also pleased that LetSeng has quickly returned to its standard treatment capacity post the lockdown period, as well as ramping up waste mining activities from July.
Gem Diamonds continues to ensure that the Group's safety protocols relating to Covid-19 are strictly adhered to and that appropriate support is provided to employees.''
Contact:
Tel: +44 (0) 208 434 2643
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014.
ABOUT GEM DIAMONDS
Gem Diamonds is a leading global diamond producer of high value diamonds. The Company owns 70% of the LetSeng mine in
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