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Firestone Diamonds said it would delist its shares and shrink the size of its board after it was forced to downgrade its output guidance due to a power outage at its Liqhobong mine in Lesotho.
The company also cited 'continued lacklustre market conditions' for its decision to delist from AIM, which would be voted on by shareholders at a meeting on 13 March.
Diamond recoveries for the year through June were now expected at between 720k and 750k carats, down from previous guidance of between 820k and 870k carats.
Power supply to the mine was disrupted on 1 October and from 27 October it ran on power provided by back-up generators sourced from South Africa. Operations returned to normal on 1 December when grid power was restored.
Operating costs for the company's second quarter were $1.1m higher as they included expenses associated with renting and operating the diesel generators.
The total impact of the power disruption was estimated at $4.6m.
'The unexpected power disruption had a devastating impact on production and revenue generation,' chief executive Paul Bosma said.
Bosma said 'good progress' had been made with Firestone Diamonds' lenders, with non-binding term sheets signed with ABSA bank for a debt repayment standstill until 31 March 2021.
Term sheets has also been signed with bondholders for a working capital facility of $6m for the same period.
'We expect both of these agreements to be formally documented before our financial year-end,' Bosma said.
At 2:44pm: (LON:FDI) Firestone Diamonds PLC share price was -0.55p at 0.4p