Petra banks of Cullinan mine to clear debt by 2022

By Ya'akov Almor / February 18, 2019 / www.idexonline.com / Article Link

Petra Diamonds, the owner and operator of the Cullinan mine, the diamond sourcethat more than a century ago produced the world's largest rough diamond ever, isplanning to clear its debt with the production of the mine's new section. Speaking toReuters, Cullinan's general manager Juan Kemp said it could take between five and10 years to achieve that goal.Reuters reported Petra's debt is currently around $420 million, representing 65percent of its total $650 loan. The company expects to generate a free cash flow andto begin reducing debt during this calendar year - a delay of almost two years, due tostrikes and technical difficulties that hit the company in 2017 and 2018. The juniorminer acquired Cullinan at the beginning of the century - at that time it was still calledPremier - from De Beers and to do so borrowed heavily to modernize and expand themine.The Premier Mine is an underground diamond mine, situated in the town of Cullinan,40 kilometer east of Pretoria, in Gauteng Province, South Africa. Established in 1902,Petra renamed it the Cullinan Diamond Mine in November 2003, in celebration of itscentenary.Found on January 26, 1905 and weighing 3,106.75 carats, the Cullinan Diamondremains the largest gem-quality rough diamond ever found. Petra Diamonds' GMKemp told Reuters he keeps dreaming about "when will we get that next big stone?"

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