Petra Diamonds announces its interim results (unaudited) for the six months period ending at December 31 2009.

An RNS press release said that the diamond miners gross mine revenue went up by 32% to $62.4 million.

Group attributable mine revenue were up 43%, reaching $48.4 million, profit from mining activity (before depreciation) amounted to $8 million and post-tax profits came to $37.9 million.

Fund raising by the company came to $120 million and the company’s cash position on December 31 2009 was $65 million.

Johan Dippenaar, Chief Executive Officer said that: "These strong trading results demonstrate that Petra Diamonds has made significant progress during the period, with increased diamond production in a rough diamond market that continues to strengthen.

“The Company is in a robust financial position, combining profitable mining operations with a well-capitalized balance sheet. Our priority now is to deliver on our core objective to expand production at each mining asset, taking annual production from one million to over three million carats, and further enhance our profile as the unique growth opportunity in the diamond sector."