Burgundy Diamond Mines has advanced several recent arrangements to facilitate its growth in the high-value fancy colour diamonds sector.
Based off the proposed start of production of fancy yellow diamonds from the Ellendale Diamond Project in 2022, the company had previously announced the potential of cutting and polishing some of this production in the Kimberley of WA to unlock further latent value.
Additionally, Burgundy has been formulating a wider downstream strategy that includes cutting, polishing, marketing and sales of potential production from other projects in its international portfolio, such as the Naujaat Project in Canada, as well as from third party supply.
With the closure of other diamond operations in 2020, the company has had the opportunity to start building the required capability for this strategy, which includes:
- A leasing agreement being finalised to acquire secure premises in Perth, comprising a purpose built high-security facility specifically designed for downstream diamond operations.
- Agreement for the purchase of specialised equipment for the valuing, cutting, polishing, grading, secure storage and sale of high-value diamonds.
- Initiating a process to recruit a team of specialists to support the move to downstream operations. These include highly specialised cutting, polishing and grading professionals with deep experience and unique skills, as well as other skills critical to the coordination, control and security of a production stream of high-value fancy colour diamonds.
