Scio Diamond - Maximizing Diamond Growing Recipes Further Increases Production

GREENVILLE, SC, Oct. 15, 2012 /PRNewswire/ - Scio Diamond Technology Corporation (OTC-BB: SCIO.OB) announced today that it has surpassed the 4,000 mark in the production of useable carats. These CVD diamond crystals are now either in the hands of our customers, working through the fabrication cycle or have contributed to Scio's self-sustaining diamond seed stock.

"It is always exciting to meet or beat milestones that define the vision of the company.  Using a mass production strategy, we have exceeded our expectations for diamond growth," says Joseph Lancia, Scio's President and CEO.  "We are optimizing our current recipe technology for growth per hour, which has been key in our rapid increase in production."

Mike McMahon, Scio's COO, says, "in addition to adjusting our recipes as Joe explains, we are increasing our seed count per grow.  In the beginning we were using 12 seeds per grow as we came on line in July.  For the past few weeks we have increased the seed count to an average of 25 per growth and are currently loading growers with up to 40 seeds per reactor."

"The result of this accelerated approach to mass production with high quality material, using our current average carat growth and seed count, is an annualized 24,000 carats per year," says Lancia.  "The demand for industrial diamond continues at a high level.  When we finalize our phasing of 40 seeds per reactor, we will be at an annualized carat production rate of 36-38,000.  For every additional seed we put above 40 on the growing table, we gain a little over 900 additional carats per year."

"Growing in sync with our growth capability is our internal laser capability.  Our first diamond laser is installed and is cutting diamond for seeds 24/7," says McMahon.  Current laser operation output exceeds 800 seeds per month plus special projects.  Five additional lasers are scheduled for installation and operation by the end of the calendar year."

About SCIO Diamond

Scio Diamond employs a patent-protected chemical vapor deposition process to produce high-quality, single-crystal diamonds in a controlled laboratory setting, with such diamonds referred to as "lab-grown" or cultivated diamonds. The diamonds have the identical chemical, physical and optical properties as diamonds found in the earth, and the company's highly controlled manufacturing process enables it to produce very high-quality, high-purity, high volume, single-crystal colorless, near colorless and fancy colored diamonds.

Scio's technology permits it to produce lab-grown diamond in size, color, and quality combinations that are very rare in nature. SCIO intends to offer diamonds in limited quantities as jewelry and in the technology arena as the material operating system of the future.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements that may involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Scio Diamond Technology Corporation to be materially different from future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by any forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements, which involve assumptions and describe future plans, strategies and expectations of the Company, are generally identifiable by use of the words "may," "will," "should," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "believe," "intend," or "project" or the negative of these words or other variations on these words or comparable terminology. These forward-looking statements are based on assumptions that may be incorrect, and there can be no assurance that these projections included in these forward-looking statements will come to pass.   Actual results of the Company could differ materially from those expressed or implied by our forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including, without limitation, the following factors, risks and uncertainties: (1) we are wholly dependent on our diamond production technology, and we may be unable to achieve high-yield production; (2) we have very limited operating history, and therefore, it is difficult to evaluate our business and prospects; (3) our ability to develop our core technologies is subject to uncertainties that are created by, among other things, the complexity of diamond manufacturing, high customer standards, dependence on third parties for certain complex components, the need to successfully integrate several complex components, dependence upon our employees and consultants to maintain an adequate testing and technical support infrastructure for successful adoption and rollout of lab grown diamonds to customers, and our lack of experience in these areas; (4) we may not be able to establish effective distribution channels or distributors for our products; (5) we expect future losses and will need additional funding; (6) competitors may have significantly greater financial, technical, manufacturing and marketing resources and access to distribution channels than we have; (7) our business model is unproven; (8) our diamond manufacturing technology is vulnerable to disruptions due to a variety of factors, which may lead to interruptions, delays, and losses of opportunities or inability to consistently market and sell our lab grown diamonds; (9) we may not be able to effectively manage the potential rapid growth of our operations; (10) we depend on our key management personnel, most of whom have either never worked together or who have worked together for only a short period of time, and the loss of the services of our executive officers or other key employees could have a material adverse effect on our business; (11) we will need to hire additional personnel, and if we fail to successfully attract, assimilate and retain a sufficient number of qualified executive, technical, managerial, sales and marketing, business development and administrative personnel, our business could suffer; (12) we may not be able to achieve a critical mass of customers and strategic relationships; (13)  we may not be able to establish brand awareness that is needed to achieve and maintain a significant market share; (14) the current and future state of the global economy may curtail our operations and our potential revenues; (15) acts of war, terrorism or other unknown and unexpected events could disrupt our business; (16) we have essentially no historical revenues and had a "going concern" qualification for our last audited financial statements; (17) the potential market for our lab grown diamonds is unproven and may not materialize; (18) we face significant competition, including from companies which are much larger, well known and have more resources than us; (19) rapid technological change will affect our business and our production capabilities may not successfully evolve; (20) we may have limited protection of our intellectual property and proprietary rights, and we may not be able to maintain the propriety and/or confidentiality of the technology; and (21)  substantial governmental regulations govern the testing, creation and sale of the types of diamonds we intend to produce and may restrict our ability to sell our lab grown diamonds. Except as required by applicable laws, the company undertakes no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements for any reason, even if new information becomes available or other events occur in the future.

SOURCE Scio Diamond