Jun 4 2014
Brazil Minerals, Inc., a U.S. holding company with revenues from diamonds and gold, announced today that it had received title to another 18.75% of Mineração Duas Barras Ltda. in Brazil, increasing its current ownership in Duas Barras to 73.75%.
BMIX gold
Through its stake in Duas Barras, BMIX posted revenues of $791,780 in 2013. Of this revenue, 69% was derived from rough diamond sales and 31% from gold sales. In 2014, the revenue mix already includes sales of polished diamonds, which command much higher margins than rough ones.
Duas Barras is a Brazilian company which owns two mineral rights encompassing over 1,404 acres, including a fully-operational mining concession that produces diamonds and gold. These rights are located in the valley of the Jequitinhonha River, a well-known mining region. Duas Barras has the largest alluvial processing plant for diamonds and gold in Latin America, and operates with all necessary environmental and operational licenses, as well as excellent labor and community relations.
Marc Fogassa, Chairman and CEO of BMIX, commented, "We are continuing to execute on our plan to transform Duas Barras into a high margin diamond operation. There are several steps to achieving this, and we are methodically advancing the plan. Our increased ownership, as announced today, is pivotal in this process."
All of the Duas Barras diamonds qualify for Kimberley Certification, which is essential for access to the global markets. The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme was established by the United Nations to prevent "conflict diamonds" from entering the market; Brazil is a signatory to this agreement.
For the additional ownership in Duas Barras, BMIX paid $500,000 and issued 675,000 shares of its restricted common stock. The cash component of this acquisition was financed by sales of polished diamonds for forward delivery, as previously announced. Other details of this transaction were presented in the Form 8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on June 3, 2014. BMIX had acquired its original stake in Duas Barras in 2013; since then, Duas Barras has undergone major improvements in several respects.
Source: http://www.brazil-minerals.com