15 August 2018
Mountain Province Diamonds announced in early August the results of its recently completed sixth diamond sale of 2018. Total proceeds came in as expected at US$22.2 million (CDN$28.9 million) from the sale of 334,751 carats at an average realized price of US$66 per carat.
“Our sixth sale was well attended by customers despite the normal market slowdown which occurs in advance of the market’s summer break," said Reid Mackie, the Company’s Vice President Diamond Marketing. The lower realised price per carat of US$66 per carat compared to the previous sale of US$85 a carat was driven by a much smaller offering of fancies and specials and a slight softening in prices for smaller, lower priced diamonds. Overall the impact of the small decline in average prices for run of mine goods was not material compared to those achieved in the previous sales and prices for better quality fancies and specials remain firm.
The Company is also pleased to announce that it successfully bid for the fancies and specials from the most recent shipment of diamonds received from the mine. The parcel includes four exceptional gem stones with carat weights of 91, 83, 58, and 45 carats. The continued recovery of exceptional stones from Gahcho Kué firmly establishes the mine as a regular producer of large, high value diamonds.
Production for July set new records from a tonnes processed and carats recovered perspective with 299,150 tonnes processed yielding 709,106 carats on a 100% basis, at an approximate grade of 2.37 carats per tonne. The higher grade is attributable to more tonnage from higher grade areas in 5034 and the Hearne pit where we are currently seeing higher grades yielding a finer distribution.
Said Stuart Brown, the Company’s President and Chief Executive Officer, “The sixth sale of the year saw another strong performance for Mountain Province Diamonds with all goods selling. We continue to see strong interest in our fancies and specials and look forward to selling our latest excellent stones later in the year.”