Kimberley Diamonds Halts Trading Ahead of Expected Ellendale Closure Announcement
June 30, 15
(IDEX Online News) – ASX-traded Kimberley Diamonds Ltd (KDL) has called for a formal trading halt of its shares ahead of a planned announcement. Reports in the Australian media say the company is expected to close its Ellendale diamond mine in the Kimberley region of the country and to make workers redundant as part of a major restructuring plan.
KDL said the securities will remain in a trading halt until either the start of normal trading on Thursday, July 2, or when an announcement is released to the market.
According to The West Australian, KDL had been planning to place the mine, which it purchased in 2013, on care and maintenance, but in April said it could continue processing operations there after cutting costs and improving efficiencies.
More than 20,000 carats of fancy yellow diamonds are mined at Ellendale each year.
In a separate announcement, the company said it had received the first AUD$5 million ($3.84 million) of aN AUD$10 million ($7.69 million) loan from Zhejiang Huitong Auction Co Ltd to begin re-commissioning its Lerala diamond mine in Botswana.
The remainder of the loan is expected to be paid at the end of next month.
Once the mine is re-opened, it will be KDL’s key source of revenue, the company said.