US, Asia Demand Drives Mountain Province Sales

RAPAPORT...Mountain Province saw $52 million in revenue from its GahchoKu?(C) mine in the first quarter of 2018 amid strong demand for rough diamonds. "Rough-diamond markets in general continued to firm notablythrough the quarter, with strong demand and price increases reported across allproduct categories, supported by robust retail jewelry sales reported from boththe US and Asian markets," said David Whittle, Mountain Province's CEO. The miner sold 527,000 carats at an average price of $99 percarat in the first three months ending March 31, recording a profitof $52,318 (CAD 67,000) for the period. Mountain Province started recovering diamonds from its Canadian assetin late 2016, and reached commercial production - its expected output level - inMarch 2017. It began recording revenue in the second quarter of 2017. Mountain Province held two tenders in the first quarter, both in Antwerp, with a 30% rise in attendance versus the same period last year, theminer said. The third sale of the year, which closed in early April and yielded$26.4 million in sales, will count toward second-quarter revenue. The company will hold a total of three tenders in the secondquarter, two in the third and three in the fourth quarter. Mountain Province is on track to achieve its production forecast of 6.3 million to 6.6 million carats for the year, it said. Mountain Province owns 49% of the Gahcho Ku?(C) mine, with DeBeers holding the remaining 51%. Mountain Province recently acquired the Kennady Diamonds project, adjacent to Gahcho Ku?(C), and hasprovisionally agreed to incorporate those assets into the Gahcho Ku?(C) operation.