Is it worth the effort?In 2012, Kimberley Diamonds (then...

Is it worth the effort?

In 2012, Kimberley Diamonds (then Goodrich Resources) acquired Kimberley Diamonds for $14.3 million, with a then remaining mine life of 18 months. That consisted of a $3.1 million upfront payment and $11.2 million payable over time from cash flow. Receiving $12.2 million from the environmental bond proceeds virtually meant Goodrich acquired Kimberley Diamonds and the Ellendale mine for $3.1 million, and had virtually no rehabilitation liability.

Clearly, the company knew early on that Ellendale had a short mine life, unless it could find more diamonds and even then, was only forecasting an additional six months life of mine.

Then in March 2013, Kimberley Diamonds forecast it would make $11.5 million, but that was based on expectations that Tiffany would agree to big price rises. Tiffany & Co had an exclusive offtake agreement for fancy yellow diamonds, but the jeweller had already agreed to price increases in September 2012 and wasn't going to do so again. KDL was forced to cut its forecasts.