ALROSA’s Q1 2015 diamond production totalled 8.4 million carats, up 6 per cent Y-O-Y driven by its projects - Mir underground mine, Botuobinskaya pipe and Arkhangelskaya and Karpinskogo.
Diamond output at Mir underground mine increased 9 times up to 488 thousand carats through measures to reduce the mine watering; Botuobinskaya pipe: the first 313 thousand carats was produced after the launch in March 2015 while Arkhangelskaya and Karpinskogo-1 pipes of the Lomonosov deposit (Severalmaz): increase in volumes of processed ore at Karpinskogo-1 doubled the diamond output up to 450 thousand carats.
Indicatively, Q1 2015 saw ALROSA sell 9.0 million carats of diamonds, including 7.0 million carats of gem-quality diamonds at an average price of US$161 per carat and 2.0 million carats of industrial diamonds at an average price of US$8 per carat. The Q1 2015 revenue from rough diamond sales is set to reach at least US$1.1 billion. In Q1 2015, ALROSA’s rough diamond prices declined by 3 per cent, affected by a softer diamond market. The company expects the conditions to improve on the back of an uptrend in the key diamond jewelry markets – the USA, China and India.