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Petra Diamonds Ltd., a struggling gem producer, found five bluestones, generally among the most valuable in the world, at its flagship mine in South Africa.
While the discovery will be a boost for the company that went up for sale after being dragged down by huge debts and a collapse in the diamond market, Petra cautioned that alone it won’t be enough to turn its fortunes around.
Petra said it found five Type IIb blue diamonds of high color and clarity at its Cullinan mine, ranging in size from 9.6 to 25.8 carats. She did not indicate their potential value and said that she is looking for the best way to sell them. Blue stones are among the rarest and most valuable and can fetch record prices. Last year, Petra sold a 20-karat blue gem for almost $ 15 million.
“These findings, while a positive development, will not have a material impact on the likely terms of the long-term solution required to improve the group’s capital structure, nor the significant level of capital dilution that existing shareholders will likely experience in its implementation, ”Petra said Wednesday.
The shares were little changed at 11:30 am in London, reducing a previous advance of as much as 13%. The stock is down 76% this year.
In June, Petra said she was looking for deals for the entire company, parts of the business, or any of its assets as it seeks to pay off debts. The company is also talking to lenders and bondholders to try to improve its debt situation.
Petra, which has mines in South Africa and one in Tanzania, was already facing multiple problems with a mountain of debt and falling diamond prices before the Covid-19 pandemic shut down the global gem trade. The company has slipped from a peak value of more than $ 1.5 billion while rebuilding the Cullinan Mine, where the world’s largest diamond was found in 1905.
