The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Gems sold by Gahcho Kué mine co-owner fetch C$115/carat North of 60 Mining News – January 29, 2021
This exceptional 157.4 carat gem quality diamond recovered from the Gahcho Kué diamond in Northwest Territories lifted the morale of the Mountain Province team going into 2021.
The Polaris diamond appears colorless in daylight, but under UV light it shines with a deep blue color reminiscent of the northern lights seen on winter nights in the Canadian Arctic.
Mountain Province Diamonds Inc. Jan. 25 reported that it received C$27.8 million (US$21.8 million) from the sale of 241,827 carats of diamonds recovered from the Gahcho Kué Mine in Northwest Territories.
The C$115 (US$90) per carat average value for the diamonds in the Jan. 22 sale in Antwerp, Belgium was 69% higher than the average price of C$68 per carat (US$51 per carat) that Mountain Province realized for the 3.3 million carats of diamonds the company sold during 2020.
In addition to the COVID-19 restrictions and protocols that challenged all North American miners, diamond producers were further confronted with the closure of diamond trading floors in Belgium and Israel, cutting off the traditional sales venues lowering prices for the stones.
"The diamond market came under unprecedented pressure from early March to early September and although this pressure remains, we did see a strong recovery with respect to rough diamond demand in the last quarter of the year," said Mountain Province Diamonds President and CEO Stuart Brown, earlier this month.
As a result, the 957,120 carats of diamonds sold by Mountain Province during the final quarter of 2020 fetched an average of C$84 per carat (US$65 per carat), which matches the average price of diamonds sold by the company during 2019.
"The first sale of the year was excellent, the growing confidence amongst rough diamond buyers translated into a healthy price improvement of 8% on a like-for-like basis when compared to our record high volume December sale," said Brown. "We expect to see a continuation of the positive trend as rough and polished markets continue to strengthen post a successful retail season."
As strong as the January sale was, the company is eagerly anticipating its February sale. One of the reasons for this is a 157.4 carat exceptional quality diamond, the largest such gem ever recovered at Gahcho Kué, will be included in that sale.
"Named 'Polaris' after the North Star, this exceptional diamond exhibits a rare natural blue fluorescence that echoes its Arctic origins," said Brown.
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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