Diamond production at Stellar Diamonds' Mandala mine in southeast Guinea increased 31% from Q2 2010 to Q3, largely due to the new heavy machinery employed at the site, the company has announced.

During Q3, which ended on September 30, 2010, 18,291 carats of rough diamonds were recovered at Mandala. In the same period, Stellar Diamonds sold 18,549 carats at an average per-carat price of $33.

Stellar Diamonds CEO Karl Smithson said that the Mandala mine passing the 100,000 carat production mark was an "important milestone" and demonstrated the company's ability to "deliver mining projects in West Africa."

Stellar, which also owns the Bomboko mine in northwest Guinea, recently raised £1.9 million, the majority of which will be reinvested in developing its mining properties.