Update on Claims by a Former Company Director

RNS Number : 0545F

BlueRock Diamonds PLC

24 October 2018

 

BlueRock Diamonds PLC / AIM: BRD / Sector: Natural Resources

24 October 2018

BlueRock Diamonds PLC ('BlueRock' or the 'Company')

Update on Claims by a Former Company Director

BlueRock Diamonds PLC, the AIM listed diamond producer, which owns and operates the Kareevlei Diamond Mine ('Kareevlei') in the Kimberley region of South Africa, announces an update on the claims made by the Company's former CEO, Riaan Visser.

On 10 August 2018 the Company announced that Mr Visser has agreed to remove his liquidation application from the court roll and that Mr Visser would have the opportunity to initiate ordinary course recovery proceedings within an agreed timetable.

On 22 October 2018, Mr Visser initiated such ordinary course recovery proceedings by filing particulars of claim in the High Court of South Africa for an amount of ZAR 3.5 million (£187,000 at the current exchange rate of 18.7) reduced from his initial claim of ZAR 4.8 million.

The Company's legal advice remains that Mr Visser's claims have no merit and the Company intends to defend them vigorously.  Nevertheless, Mr Visser's claims are fully provided for in the balance sheet of the Company and security has been provided to the South African Courts for the full amount of the initial claim. 

Court proceedings in South Africa are likely to take at least 18 months until any final resolution.

Adam Waugh, BlueRock's CEO, stated, "Based on our legal advice we remain confident in defeating this unfounded claim from a former director."

Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure - Certain information contained in this announcement would have been deemed inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 until the release of this announcement.

**ENDS**

For further information, please visit BRD's website www.bluerockdiamonds.co.uk or contact:

BlueRock Diamonds PLC Adam Waugh, CEO David Facey, FD	[e-mail] [e-mail]
SP Angel (NOMAD and Broker) Stuart Gledhill / Lindsay Mair/Caroline Rowe	Tel: [phone]
St Brides Partners Ltd (Financial PR) Lottie Wadham / Juliet Earl	Tel: [phone]

Notes to editors:

BlueRock Diamonds is an AIM-listed diamond producer which operates the Kareevlei Diamond Mine near Kimberley in South Africa which produces diamonds of exceptional quality and ranks in the top ten in the world in terms of average value per carat. The Kareevlei licence area covers 3,000 hectares and hosts five known diamondiferous kimberlite pipes.  As at 3 September 2018, it was estimated that the remaining Inferred Mineral Resource from the three kimberlite pipes (KV1, KV2 and KV3) represents a potential inground value of circa US$124 million at a current average run of mine diamond value of US$362/carat.

 

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