Lesotho: Firestone Diamonds Reduces FY2020 Production Forecast

The mining group, active at the Liqhobong diamond mine in Lesotho, produced 138,000 carats for the three months ended December 2019, a 31% quarter-over-quarter decrease. One of the reasons for this was a power disruption at the site last October, which resulted in a production shutdown of almost 2 weeks. As a result, the production forecasts announced for the current fiscal year have been revised downwards from 820,000-870,000 carats to 720,000-750,000 carats. In addition to the impact on production, additional costs in operating expenses and other structural problems led Firestone to consider delisting from the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange. Verdict on March 13, after a shareholder vote.