Mountain Province clocks $20.9 million in sixth diamond sale

Mountain Province Diamonds Inc. announced the results of its sixth diamond sale. The Company’s sixth sale represents the highest volume sale to date and cumulative sales at tender now exceed 1.18 million carats. Competitive bidding and strong prices were realized on the fancies and specials and high-end parcels, and prices realized on the remainder of the lots were in line with expectations. Tender performance measures remain healthy with a high level of interest from returning customers. Said Reid Mackie, the Company’s Vice President Diamond Marketing, “Following on from a very strong June sale, the July tender was well attended and bidding performance remains high. Repeat customers won 83% of lots, consolidating our view that the rough market is now fully engaged with the Gahcho Kué product and its positive performance at manufacturing.”

The results from the fifth and sixth sales are impacted in part by the inclusion in the fifth sale of a high-value selection of the fancies and specials won by the Company otherwise scheduled for inclusion in the sixth sale. Including these high-value diamonds, the value realized per carat in the sixth sale was US$87.

The size and quality distributions of the sixth sale’s offering is in line with the average production profile mined to date. Said David Whittle, the Company’s Interim President and Chief Executive Officer, “The diamonds sold in this sixth sale primarily originate from the April production month, and the attributed value per tonne for the month as realized from the sale was C$225. This is the highest monthly value per tonne we have achieved to date, and reflects the particularly strong recovered grade for the April production. It is encouraging to see these positive trends through the initial months of our first full year of production.”

In its sixth sale (July 2017), the company sold 290,000 carats compared with 222,000 carats in its fifth sale held in June 2017. The sixth sales value stood at $20.9 million (per carat value was $72) compared to $21.1 million (per carat value was $95) in its fifth sale.