Petra Diamonds is to be the next subject of our Great Mines series. The company has come a long way in 15 years and has acquired some great mines along the way, like Finsch and Cullinan in South Africa and Williamson in Tanzania. If you are interested in providing input to these article, [email protected]. The first, overview, article appears in the April issue. This is followed by Cullinan in May, Finsch in June and the Kimberley operations in July. Petra has just announced production and sales trading for the six months ended 31 December 2011, ahead of the publication of the Company’s interim results for the Period on 28 February 2012. Highlights include production up 64% to 953,553 ct (H1 FY 2011: 582,102 ct):

• Production growth mainly due to the introduction of Finsch into the Group from 14 September 2011
• Further production increase expected for H2 FY 2012 due to:
• o full six months’ contribution from Finsch
  o two additional ROM treatment plants coming on stream (Kimberley Underground’s Wesselton plant and the Williamson plant)
• Petra on track to reach its production target of over 2 Mct for FY 2012

Sales

• Revenue up 13% to $101.4 million (H1 FY 2011: $90.0 million)
• Carats sold up 16% to 678,772 ct (H1 FY 2011: 584,234 ct)
• Difference between carats produced and carats sold (ca. 275,000 ct) due to:
• o Finsch closing stock of ca. 195,000 ct (as the acquisition completed during the Period there was no opening stock)
  o the early sales cycle cut-off for all the South African mines due to the December holiday period which meant that closing stock was on average higher than June 2011
• Significant carat sales increase expected for H2 mainly due to increased production from Finsch and net release of ca. 100,000 ct closing stock (end H1 vs end H2)
• Revenue growth affected by weaker prices during the Period; the market stabilised in late H1 and Petra expects this trend to continue in H2, though some volatility may be experienced due to global economic conditions

Johan Dippenaar, Chief Executive Officer, commented: “Petra recorded strong production growth for the Period, mainly due to the acquisition of the Finsch mine. Revenue growth was affected by the weakening in rough diamond prices since July 2011, but the long-term outlook for the rough diamond market remains positive due to the growth in demand from emerging markets set against a flat or declining supply trend. Petra’s position as London’s largest quoted diamond mining group, with a premium listing on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange, positions the Company to benefit from investors looking to gain exposure to these fundamentals. Petra expects to enter the FTSE 250 index in March 2012.”