Firestone Gets Bank Waiver After Prices Slide

RAPAPORT... ABSA Bank has granted Firestone Diamonds a waiver after adrop in small-diamond prices put the miner at risk of breaching its loan covenants. The terms of Firestone's $82.4 million loan from ABSA included assumptions about estimated future diamond values. Weakness in thesmall-diamond market resulted in the company's average selling price falling to$74 per carat in the nine months ending March 31 - below its expectations. To ensurethat Firestone wouldn't breach the terms, it obtained the waiver from ABSA fortwo of its six covenants. "The loweraverage value was impacted mainly by lower prices realized for the smaller,lower-value goods, which has also affected many other diamond-mining companiesand the wider diamond industry," Firestone said.Image: Firestone Diamonds' Liqhobong mine in Lesotho. (Firestone Diamonds)