Mountain Province Diamonds Inc.  in its operational update released yesterday said that   two large gem quality diamonds – one of  84.65 carats and another of 53.90 carats  --  were recovered  from the Gahcho Kué  diamond mine in April 2017.

The Company also declared that the April 2017 bid  for the  production of fancy coloured and special (+10.8 carat) diamonds was won by Mountain Province. The diamonds procured through the bid included the two mentioned above.  This lot   will be part of  the Company’s upcoming sales through its broker in Antwerp, Belgium.

Mountain Province President and CEO Patrick Evans commented: “The 84.65 carat diamond is the largest gem quality diamond recovered to date and provides further confirmation that Gahcho Kué hosts a population of large, high quality gem diamonds. The 53.90 carat diamond is the highest quality exceptional stone recovered to date and is expected to achieve a record price at tender.”

The Company  also   announced that  all seven participants in its loan facility had unanimously agreed to issue  a  waiver until August 31, 2017 to fund the cash call reserve account.

“Under the terms of the loan facility, the Company was subject to maintaining a cash call reserve account balance of approximately US$ 27.9 million as at March 31, 2017 and had previously received a waiver from the lenders until May 31, 2017,” Mountain Province said.

 It added: “During the extension period to August 31, 2017, the Company expects to provide the lenders an updated Life of Mine plan for Gahcho Kué from the operator, De Beers Canada, along with an updated financial model, further diamond pricing analysis and a fluorescence evaluation to be prepared by an external consultant.”

However, the Company indicated that it is in   discussions with its lending group to “defer and realign the reserve account funding requirements” to reflect  the  current market conditions. Mountain Province hopes to conclude these discussions with some positive outcome within the  period of the  current extension, failing which, it plans to apply for another extension of waiver. 

A budget of US$19 million has been approved by the   Gahcho Kué Joint Venture   for “winterisation of the conveyor systems and installation of expanded dust mitigation systems at Gahcho Kué”.  Work to install    the new systems is scheduled to begin in the second half of 2017 and is expected to be  completed   in Q1 2018. “These new systems are expected to reduce unscheduled extreme cold weather downtime and also increase equipment and operational efficiencies,” the Company explained.