Stellar Diamonds' FY Revenue -25%

Stellar Diamonds reported that revenue fell 25 percent year on year to $1.52 million for the fiscal year that ended on June 30, 2011. Stellar recorded an impairment charge of $8.6 million for its Bomboko project and a net loss of $14.9 million up from $5.6 million one year ago. During the fiscal period, the junior explorer raised $9.9 million in equity this past March and as of June it held $6.5 million in cash along with net assets of $21.1 million.

In a note to shareholders, Stellar Diamonds called the financial performance successful as it moved closer to declaring significant diamond resources on its kimberlite assets at Droujba, Tongo, Kono and Bouro. Drilling at Droujba reflected a larger kimberlite than originally envisaged and independent geological modeling of the pipe has demonstrated that a multi-million tonne resource is evident. At Tongo, Stellar's bulk sampling grades comfortably reached in excess of 100 carats per hundred tonnes (cpht) with high diamond values evident.

Although Stellar produced diamonds at Mandala, the company ceased trial mining at Bomboko as the grades were insufficient to prove sustainably economic. This enabled the group to relocate resources to Droujba.

Karl Smithson, Stellar's chief executive, said, ''We are extremely pleased with the progress made during the financial period and the subsequent months. The decision to refocus our resources on our core kimberlite projects has proved to be successful, with strong results achieved at both our Droujba and Tongo projects as we have sought to considerably accelerate the pace of work at both these projects.

''Drilling at both projects has revealed very encouraging results and we are confident in our ability to create further value and momentum from these projects,'' he added, ''Although the current market environment is characterized by volatility and risk aversion, Stellar is well capitalized to progress with our work programs. We are expecting a maiden resource for both projects in the first quarter of 2012, and this will be a major milestone for Stellar as we look to create significant value from our portfolio of diamond projects."

-Rapaport