Diamond chief resigns

THE boss of Petra Diamonds is stepping down amid a slide in the miner’s share price.

Johan Dippenaar, 51, has been in charge since 2006, since when it has expanded production from its mines in South Africa and Tanzania from 175,000 to 4.6m carats.

Shares have been volatile but slumped in June as the business tapped shareholders for £129m in May to try and pay down debt following major expansion.

They are roughly at 1998 levels – closing up 5.2pc, or 1.92p, to 38.6p last night – having fallen around 43pc since the start of the year.