Firestone Diamonds Posts First Revenue

RAPAPORT... Firestone Diamonds recorded its first half-year revenue from the Liqhobongmine in Lesotho, the company said Tuesday. The miner saw sales of $28 million from the recovery of379,716 carats during the six months ending December 31, at an average price of$74 per carat.The company posted a net loss of $1.9 million for the period. "In our first six months of full-scale production at Liqhobong,processing rates were above expectations, while costs continued to remain belowour targeted levels," said CEO Stuart Brown. The company has changed its mine plan due tolower-than-expected diamond prices, and raised $25 million from investors in December,in order to carry out the adjusted program. In the miner's first sale of the second fiscal half, held inFebruary, it sold 114,887 carats at an average price of $82 per carat, fortotal sales of $9.4 million.