Rockwell Diamonds Inc. announced results for the three months ending May 31, 2016. The Group reported a 41 percent increase (on y-o-y basis) in rough diamond revenues at $12.1 million, chiefly due to the contribution of new production from RHC, where better mining and processing volumes were achieved during the quarter.

With beneficiation revenue down 56 percent at $0.4 million, this resulted in total revenues increased by 36 percent (on y-o-y basis) to $12.5 million. In comparison to the last quarter of 2016, total revenues were up by 20 percent reflecting the gains that are being made in productivity on Rockwell’s operations.

The company’s profits were at $3.3 million in Q1 F2017, from a loss of $3.1 million for Q1 F2016.

James Campbell, CEO and President, said, “Rockwell has begun fiscal 2017 with a significantly changed operational profile from just one year ago. Fiscal 2016 was a challenging time of change and restructuring. Our substantially improved results for the first quarter of fiscal 2017 reflect the benefit of the strategic interventions of late fiscal 2016. Enhanced productivity on our operations has resulted in improved diamond recoveries and diamond values, which have translated in increased diamond revenues, on both a year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter basis.”

He further noted, “The outlook for the diamond market is stable for the remainder of fiscal 2017, and the underlying fundamentals remain strong”.