Firestone Diamonds plc announced operational update on operations at Liqhobong Diamond Mine for the fourth quarter and full year ended 30 June 2018. In the quarter ended 30 June 2018, Liqhobong treated 1,025,647 tonnes of ore at an average throughput rate of 530 tonnes per hour (tph). As expected, grade increased to 25.7 cpht as mining progressed to the higher grade areas of the pit. As a result, 263,512 carats were recovered during the quarter. During the quarter, 114 stones (plus 10.8 carats) were recovered which was encouraging although, overall, the average quality still remained somewhat below expectation with the recovery of fewer valuable stones. Tonnes treated were 18.0% higher than third quarter of fiscal 2018 at 1,025,647 tonnes.

For the full year, total carat recoveries were 835,832 carats. Tonnes treated were 3.8 million tonnes (mt).

The company provided operating guidance for the full year of fiscal 2019. During fiscal 2019, the company plans to treat between 3.6 and 3.8 mt of ore and expects to recover between 820,000 and 870,000 carats. The company also plans to develop the mine further through the stripping of between 4.3 and 4.8 mt of waste rock.