{"id":1154446,"date":"2019-12-09T11:23:06","date_gmt":"2019-12-09T17:23:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/?p=1008782"},"modified":"2019-12-09T11:23:06","modified_gmt":"2019-12-09T17:23:06","slug":"petra-diamonds-halts-all-mines-in-south-africa-due-to-power-issues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/?p=1154446","title":{"rendered":"Petra Diamonds halts all mines in South Africa due to power issues"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Struggling Petra Diamonds (LON:PDL) has had to <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"http:\/\/ir.q4europe.com\/Tools\/newsArticleHTML.aspx?solutionID=3144&amp;customerKey=PetraDiamonds&amp;storyID=14539092\" >suspend operations at all of its mines in South Africa<\/a> after Eskom, the country\u2019s electricity utility,\u00a0declared a power system emergency and an unprecedented move to Stage 6 load shedding <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/m.facebook.com\/story.php?story_fbid=3264112613615460&amp;id=652838731409541\" >from 6pm local time onwards<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class='d-flex justify-content-center'>\n<div id='div-gpt-ad-1561499308230-0'><script>googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1561499308230-0');});<\/script><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Until now, interruption of electricity supply to avoid the excessive load of the country\u2019s network had been implemented up to stage 4. Stage 6 allows for up to 6,000MW to be shed from the national grid, equivalent to about 12% of Eskom&#8217;s nominal total capacity.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The move, said the utility, follows<br \/>\na technical problem at Medupi Power Station impacting additional generation<br \/>\nsupply.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote alignright\">\n<blockquote>\n<p>Eskom, the country\u2019s electricity utility&nbsp;declared a power system emergency and an unprecedented move to Stage 6 load shedding<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Production, hoisting and processing<br \/>\nhave stopped immediately at Cullinan, Finsch and Koffiefontein mines, Petra<br \/>\nsaid.<\/p>\n<p>The miner noted that it was in the process<br \/>\nof&nbsp;removing all underground workers, except those required for essential<br \/>\nservices, with only pumping to prevent flooding and ventilation.<\/p>\n<p>Petra said it would update the market as soon as it receives further notification as to how long the load cut will last, and what impact the issue was likely to have on its production performance.<\/p>\n<p>Petra has been trying to turn<br \/>\naround its fortunes&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/mining.com\/petra-diamonds-ceo-leave-following-shares-value-dip-debt-increase\/\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">after piling up debt<\/a>&nbsp;to expand Cullinan, where the<br \/>\nworld\u2019s largest-ever diamond was found in 1905. That rock was cut into two<br \/>\nstones \u2013 the First Star of Africa and the Second Star of Africa \u2013 and are now<br \/>\npart of Britain\u2019s Crown Jewels, held in the Tower of London.<\/p>\n<p>The company\u2019s share price collapsed to a record low amid falling diamond prices that forced it to&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/petra-diamonds-ceo-leave-following-shares-value-dip-debt-increase\/\" >write down the value of its mines<\/a>&nbsp;in September by almost $250 million.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/load-shedding-stages-1.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1008789\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/load-shedding-stages-1.jpeg 674w, https:\/\/www.mining.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/load-shedding-stages-1-209x300.jpeg 209w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 674px) 100vw, 674px\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>The financial struggles prompted the company to launch a restructuring that&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/ir.q4europe.com\/solutions\/petradiamonds\/3144\/newsArticle.aspx?storyid=14515076\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">ended in November with a number of organizational changes<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>Petra is just one of the many<br \/>\ndiamond miners hit by ongoing market weakness that has affected producers of<br \/>\nsmall stones hardest, due to an oversupply in that segment.<\/p>\n<p><em>More to come\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Production, hoisting and processing have stopped immediately at Cullinan, Finsch and Koffiefontein mines.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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