Mountain Province Diamonds announces third quarter 2019 production and sale results, provides Q3 conference call details

17 October 2019

Mountain Province Diamonds Inc. today announces production and sales results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2019 from the Gahcho Kué Diamond Mine. The Company also releases the details for its Q3 2019 earnings conference call and webcast. All figures are expressed in Canadian dollars unless otherwise noted. 
Q3 2019 Highlights
(all figures reported on a 100% basis unless otherwise stated)

  • 11,742,138 total tonnes mined, a 1% increase on comparable period (Q3 2018: 11,592,000), and an 8% increase from previous quarter (Q2 2019: 10,865,263).
  • 1,004,828 tonnes of ore mined, a 13% decrease from comparable quarter (Q3 2018: 1,155,000 tonnes), and a 35% increase from previous quarter (Q2 2019: 746,583).
  • 890,325 tonnes of ore treated, a 17% increase from comparable quarter (Q3 2018: 759,000 tonnes), and a 1% increase from previous quarter (Q2 2019: 882,374).
  • 1,528,494 carats recovered at an average grade of 1.72 carats per tonne, 16% lower than comparable quarter (Q3 2018: 1,819,000 carats at 2.40 carats per tonne), and 12% lower than the previous quarter (Q2 2019: 1,730,147 carats at 1.96 carats per tonne). Q3 2019 carat recovery was slightly below the Company's expectations but within the revised plan limits for 2019. As previously announced, the ongoing plant modifications in order to change bottom cut off and increase daily throughput have progressed well and the plant is performing above expectations, consistently achieving higher daily throughputs. The severe weather conditions encountered during the earlier part of the year caused delays in the mine plan schedule, and access to the planned higher grade blocks of the orebody was limited. In addition, higher plant throughput capability as a result of the ongoing plant modifications, and subsequent need for more ore sources, required the processing of all available ore sources, which mostly consisted of lower grade ore tonnes, all of which are reflected in the lower grades and carats recovered in Q2 and Q3 2019 results. The current quarter (Q4 2019) is trending positively. Access to higher grade blocks has been achieved and the Company reiterates its full year 2019 production guidance of 6.6 – 6.9 million carats. 
  • 791,252 carats sold at an average value of $69 per carat (US$52.5 per carat) for total proceeds of $54.8 million (US$41.6 million) in comparison to 788,842 carats sold at an average value of $95 per carat (US$72.5 per carat) for total proceeds of $74.9 million (US$57.2 million) in Q3 2018. The lower prices realized year-on-year are affected by three factors; the source of the diamonds from varying parts of the orebody (mostly lower grade areas of Hearne and SWC Kimberlites in 2019 versus 5034 in 2018), lower quality and grade material processed during Q2 and Q3 2019, and the overall sentiment in the rough diamond market and associated pressure on prices of lower quality and smaller stones. 

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