Mountain Province Diamonds announces March 31, 2018 quarter end results

10 May 2018

Mountain Province Diamonds Inc. today announces its financial and operating results for the quarter ended March 31, 2018.

Highlights include:

  • Earnings from mine operations of $24.6 million and net income of $0.7 million or $0.00 per share for the first quarter of 2018 with adjusted EBITDA of $33.2 million. Included in the determination of net income is an unrealized foreign exchange loss for the quarter of $10.3 million on the translation of the Company’s USD-denominated long-term debt. The Company did not record any sales in the comparable period for 2017 as sales were still credited against mine construction costs in that period.
  • Two tender sales conducted in the first quarter of 2018, through the Company’s diamond broker based in Antwerp, Belgium. Mountain Province anticipates conducting three tender sales in the second quarter, two tender sales in the third quarter and three tender sales in the fourth quarter.
  • Total sales of $67 million (US$52 million) in the first quarter of 2018. Revenue was realized through the first two tender sales of the 2018 year. Average realization in the first quarter was $126 Canadian dollars per carat sold (US$99 per carat). The third sale of the year began at the end of the quarter and closed in early April, yielding $33.3 million (US$26.4 million) in tender sale proceeds as reported in the news release of April 18, 2018.
  • Approximately 786,000 tonnes of ore were treated through the process plant and 1,641,000 carats recovered, on a 100% basis, for an average recovered grade of 2.09 carats per tonne (“cpt”), in line with budget. The Company’s 49% attributable share of diamond production for the three months ended March 31, 2018 was approximately 804,000 carats.
  • Cash costs of production, including capitalized stripping costs1, for the three months ended March 31, 2018 of $76 per tonne of ore processed and $37 per carat recovered.
  • Pioneering waste removal at Hearne continued throughout the quarter, and in April the first ore was mined from the Hearne pit. The plant will begin processing Hearne ore during this second quarter of 2018.
  • Customer participation rates at the Company’s two tender sales concluded in the first quarter were very strong. The average number of customers placing bids increased by 30% over 2017 levels and the number of bids received per lot increased from an average of eleven in 2017 to over fourteen this quarter. The average number of lots per sale (164, compared with an average 125 in 2017) was elevated due to the large number of individual fancy and special stones which were marketed as individual stone lots.
  • Quarter end cash position of $28.7 million and net working capital of $113.5 million, with the US$50 million revolving credit facility remaining undrawn.

 

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