30 November 2022
TORONTO and NEW YORK, Nov. 30, 2022 /CNW/ - Mountain Province Diamonds Inc. ("Mountain Province", the "Company") (TSX: MPVD) (OTC: MPVD) is pleased to provide phase one drilling results for the discovery as reported in July 2022 of the Hearne Northwest Extension at Gahcho Kué Mine. The Hearne kimberlite is one of four kimberlites being mined at Gahcho Kué Mine, which is presently ranked as 4th in the world by annual diamond production. Mountain Province is a 49% shareholder at Gahcho Kué with joint venture partner De Beers Canada as operators.
The Hearne Northwest Extension was first visually identified in late 2021, when kimberlite measuring 25 meters across in a bench face was exposed during routine mining operations. A discovery drilling program was subsequently launched with initial results reported earlier this year (see news release, July 18, 2022). Ground-based geophysics initially suggested a west-northwest direction for the extension, but a northwest direction has been confirmed from the phase one drilling.
Phase one drilling of the Hearne Northwest Extension includes 16 drillholes totaling 5,040 meters. Ten of the sixteen drillholes have significant kimberlite intersections that have been used to model this large extension. Completion of the phase one drilling and subsequent modeling of the data suggests that a significant volume of kimberlite may be present.
Mark Wall, the Company's President and Chief Executive Officer commented:
"The latest results generated with our operating partner De Beers suggest that the Hearne Northwest Extension is a significant discovery, potentially equal in volume to the Hearne orebody as it was originally defined. As the extension is only in the exposed lower benches of the open pit and plunges to the northwest, an underground operation to recover this ore is a logical pursuit, and the Gahcho Kué joint venture is actively reviewing underground options for economic recovery of this material."
A summary of all drilling results for the Hearne Northwest Extension is provided below.