Namibian Minerals Corporation

Namibian Minerals sold 51,325 carats for $7.8-million (U.S.), averaging $153 per carat, a 16 per cent increase over the previous quarter.

Namibian Minerals Corporation (Namco) reported earnings of $3.1-million (U.S.) from its Luderitz Bay marine diamond mining operation for the seven months ended Dec. 31, 1998.

Namibian President Sam Nujoma christened the mining vessel MV Kovambo. The ceremony took place on Feb. 5, 1999, with Namibia's first lady.

Namibian Minerals Corporation exceeded its annual production target of 150,000 carats in under 10 months, driven by improvements to its NamSSol mining system.

Namibian recorded monthly production of 26,000 carats in December 1998, taking output to more than 126,000 carats over its first nine months of production.

The company reported net profit of $1.2-million (U.S.) and diamond production of 42,600 carats for the quarter ended Nov. 30, 1998, up 41 per cent.

The company has mined 100,000 carats of gem quality diamonds from its Luderitz Bay Grant in Namibia over the past eight months.

Namibian Minerals will build a second diamond mining tool, NamSSOl II, targeting 185,000 carats a year and appointed Tokyo Sexwale to its board.

Namco reported its first quarterly profit of $1.02-million from Namibian marine diamond mining for the quarter ended Aug. 31, 1998, as production rose 17 per cent to 30,300 carats.

The company reported diamond production of 30,300 carats and sales of $4.8-million from its Luderitz Bay grant in Namibia for the quarter ended August 31, 1998.