Lower Grades Hit Mountain Province Production

RAPAPORT... Production at the Gahcho Ku?(C) mine failed to meet MountainProvince's expectations in the third quarter, as bad weather led to themining of lower-grade ore. Ore from the asset yielded 1.7 carats of rough diamonds pertonne in the three months ending September 30 - 28% lower than the same perioda year ago. Total output fell to 1.5 million carats versus 1.8 million in 2018,even as the amount of material treated increased 17% to 890,325 tonnes. "The severe weather conditions encountered during theearlier part of the year caused delays in the mine-plan schedule, and access tothe planned higher-grade blocks of the orebody was limited," Mountain Province,which owns 49% of the asset, said last week. De Beers holds the remaining 51%. Additionally, output suffered as a result of ongoing plantmodifications to increase the amount of ore processed daily, the companyexplained. "Higher plant throughput capability as a result of theongoing plant modifications, and subsequent need for more ore sources, requiredthe processing of all available ore sources, which mostly consisted of lower-grade-oretonnes, all of which are reflected in the lower grades and carats recovered." Revenue for the July-to-September period fell 27% to $41.6million from the sale of 791,252 carats, while the average price dropped 28% to$53 per carat. Mountain Province expects total full-year production at GahchoKu?(C) to meet its original forecast of 6.6 million to 6.9 million carats, as itmoves to the higher-grade portion of the mine in the fourth quarter, it added. Image: Gahcho Ku?(C) mine. (Mountain Province)