The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Collects $89M from first traditional sale since COVID pandemic North of 60 Mining News – September 25, 2020
A high-quality, 60.59-carat vivid yellow diamond recovered from the Gahcho Kué Mine in Canada's Northwest Territories.
Mountain Province Diamonds Inc. Sept. 21 reported that it received US$89 million from the sale of 210,661 carats of diamonds from the Gahcho Kué Mine in Northwest Territories. This Sept. 19 sale in Antwerp, Belgium represents the company's first traditional commercial sale since before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mountain Province owns a 49% joint venture interest in the Gahcho Kué diamond mine in Canada's Northwest Territories – De Beers Canada Inc. owns the remaining 51%.
Gahcho Kué is Mountain Province's sole producing asset. As such, the company relies on the sale of its share of diamonds from the Northwest Territories mine to fund its portion of the operation and corporate expenses.
In mid-March, however, the diamond trading floors in Belgium and Israel were closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. This, along with the closure of retail outlets and cancelling of gem shows around the globe, essentially shut down the traditional markets for diamonds.
This led Mountain Province to reach an agreement to sell its run-of-mine diamonds, under 10.8 carats, to Dunebridge Worldwide Ltd. at the prevailing market price at the time of each sale.
Mountain Province now has the option to sell into the more traditional markets at diamond prices nearly what they where before the pandemic. The company said its latest sale averaged US$42 per carat, indicating a 1% discount to values achieved for similar diamonds at the February sale.
The company said these results do not include the sale of any high-value fancy and special stones.
"We are pleased to have finally resumed our traditional sales channels as the markets around the globe continue to gradually open for business," said Mountain Province Diamonds President and CEO Stuart Brown. "The results of the first small sale, post the COVID-19 pandemic are an encouraging start considering that the market has been at a standstill for nearly six months. The results of the sale were a positive sign as the markets for rough and polished diamonds start to return."
Mountain Province's next diamond sale event is scheduled to close on Oct.31.
Over his more than 16 years of covering mining and mineral exploration, Shane has become renowned for his ability to report on the sector in a way that is technically sound enough to inform industry insiders while being easy to understand by a wider audience.
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