Paragon Diamonds (#PRG) - Government approval for acquisition of Mothae
- 2015-08-06 23:18:14
UK 22:42 Wednesday, 23 September 2026
Breaking news and expert analysis on fast-moving AIM and LSE listed shares
Gem hopeful Paragon Diamonds (PRG) says it expects to start production this year from its Lemphane and Mothae mines in the southern African kingdom of Lesotho, generating anticipated combined revenues of $36 million (£22.1 million) in their first full year of operation. As the Guernsey-based company awaits formal approval from Lesotho’s Ministry of Mines for its purchase of 75% of Mothae, chairman Philip Manduca has declared he thinks the shares, floated at 10p in 2010 by acerbic entrepreneur Francesco Scolaro, ought to be trading in double figures, rather than their present 5.5p.
This morning Paragon Diamonds (PRG) released a very odd RNS indeed. On the face of it, mooting a share buyback programme would send a strong signal to the market that the board either thinks the share price is too low, or that the company has more cash than the board knows what to do with. But for a company still in a capital intensive phase this is… unusual…. to say the least.
As foreshadowed here in March, Paragon Diamonds (PRG) has clinched a takeover agreement that should virtually double the AIM-quoted company’s anticipated gem output and boost its retail clout on the eve of what entrepreneurial chairman Philip Manduca, perhaps understandably, declares could be a ‘seismic’ long-term upsurge in the rough diamond market. Paragon is buying control of the Mothae kimberlite resource in the southern African kingdom of Lesotho, five km. from its own Lemphane diamond deposit, from Swedish tycoon Lukas Lundin’s Vancouver-based Lucara Diamond Corporation.
Gem hopeful Paragon Diamonds (PRG) has raised £130,000 at 5.5p to fund due diligence on acquiring another African diamond mine in a transformative deal to double the company’s productive capacity. Having agreed a $12 million (£8 million) equity and debt package in January with Dubai-based International Triangle General Trading (ITGT) to take its Lemphane project in the southern African kingdom of Lesotho into production by June, AIM-quoted Paragon says it has spotted another tempting project.
Ambitious gem play Paragon Diamonds (PRG) is ‘three months from production’ at Lemphane in the southern African kingdom of Lesotho, says chairman Philip Manduca, after agreeing a $12 million (£8 million) financing deal with Dubai-based conglomerate International Triangle General Trading (ITGT). Guernsey-based Paragon has signed a legally binding memorandum of understanding with ITGT, founded by influential entrepreneur Saeed Al-Falasi, by which the Middle Eastern group will buy $8 million-worth of Paragon shares at 5.5p and provide a $4 million 10% loan notes, guaranteed by Paragon.
Diamonds seem to have escaped the worst of the carnage that has afflicted other commodities, from gold to iron ore and participants in the sector, perhaps unsurprisingly, claim to see a widening of interest in the dazzling gemstones, from China to the Middle East, with a new emphasis on their potential merits as investments as well as adornments. One such enthusiast is Philip Manduca, former hedge fund pioneer, brother of the head of the Prudential insurance giant and chairman of AIM-quoted Paragon Diamonds (PRG).
Philip Manduca, since August chairman of ambitious gem play Paragon Diamonds (PRG), says he ‘could not be more excited’ as the AIM-quoted company prepares to start production early next year from its Lemphane kimberlite project in the southern African kingdom of Lesotho. He is in discussions with potential providers of debt finance for the $6 million (£3.8 million) capital expenditure required for Stage 1 of the Lemphane project, which Paragon hopes will yield 20,000 carats over two years from one million tonnes of kimberlite material and generate annual revenues of $90 million with an estimated average value of no less than $930 a carat.
Philip Manduca, hedge fund pioneer and newly established executive chairman of AIM dog Paragon Diamonds (PRG), is trumpeting big ambitions for the company and its Lemphane kimberlite pipe in the gem-rich southern African kingdom of Lesotho. His strategy includes moving to production at Lemphane, where Paragon owns 80 per cent and suspects it holds a minimum of one million carats, as soon as possible, perhaps before next March, and vertically integrating the company by taking significant stakes in cutting, polishing and retailing stones.
From the 2014 UK Investor Show a video featuring a presentation by Stephen Grimmer of Paragon Diamonds (PRG) where we sense that theaction is about to hot up...
Diamond miners, especially the smaller ones, have been out of favour for the last few years but I expect that to change and I like the look of Paragon Diamonds (PRG).
Direct from the Queen Elizabeth Conference Centre a video featuring a UK Investor Show 2014 presentation by with Stephen Grimmer of Paragon Diamonds (PRG)
Direct from the Queen Elizabeth Conference Centre a video featuring a UK Investor Show 2014 presentation by Stephen Grimmer of Paragon Diamonds (PRG)
Paragon Diamonds (PRG), the gem exploration and development company floated on AIM by the abrasively entrepreneurial Frank Scolaro, expects most of the stones it receives from its flagship Lemphane kimberlite diamond pipe in the southern African kingdom of Lesotho to be uneconomic. Even so, the company believes there will be enough high quality diamonds to make this project a real money spinner.
