Irish explorer Botswana Diamonds has reported a loss of almost £1 million on the back of what it described as “another challenging year, characterised by muted consumer spending”.
The London-listed group, which has been heavily involved in diamond exploration in southern Africa since the 1980s, said it incurred a loss of £994,582 for the 12 months to the end of June.
This compared to the loss of £560,974 for the previous 12-month period. The results translated into a basic loss per share of 0.09p.
“The global diamond industry experienced another challenging year, characterised by muted consumer spending and continued uncertainty in several major markets,” company chairman John Teeling said.
READ MORE
“Demand in China remained soft, while the United States, the world’s largest consumer market, saw slower jewellery sales due to inflationary pressures and broader economic caution,” he said.
“The situation was exacerbated by growing supply of lab-grown diamonds (LGDs), which continued to compress prices in the lower-to-mid-value segments of the natural diamond market,” Mr Teeling said.
“However, the negative effects were most pronounced in categories where volume outweighs rarity. Importantly, BOD’s exploration portfolio is aimed at higher-value stones, where natural diamonds retain strong consumer preference and pricing resilience,” he said.
The company said that while global diamond demand remains uneven, the longer-term supply fundamentals remain favourable.
It also highlighted how it has been harnessing AI to evaluate mining data.
“The company’s strategic collaboration with Planetary AI Ltd was one of the defining initiatives of the year,” Mr Teeling said.
He noted AI identified seven entirely new kimberlite targets in areas that had not previously been considered prospective.
“This is one of the most advanced applications of AI in mineral exploration undertaken in Botswana and positions BOD among the industry’s early adopters of data-driven exploration at scale,” he said.
