Canadian diamond miner Mountain Province has entered the 2023 cold weather and ice road resupply season with good momentum and a backdrop of a resilient rough diamond market, CEO Mark Wall said on Thursday.
Having had a challenging start to 2022, mainly owing to a spike in Covid cases at the Gahcho Kué (GK) mine in the Northwest Territories, a detailed recovery plan was developed. He said the plan had resulted in quarter-on-quarter improvements throughout the year.
“We closed out 2022 with the refinancing of our bonds, including reducing our total debt by about C$60-million compared to this time last year,” Wall said.
In 2022, Mountain Province mined 4.1-million tonnes, compared with a guidance of 3.75-million to 4.3-million tonnes. It sold 2.7-million carats at an average of C$146/ct, for total proceeds of C$388.8-million. This compared with sales of 3.2-million carats at C$94/ct and proceeds of C$298.4-million in 2021.
The company noted that sentiment in the rough diamond market remained resilient, despite some recent turbulence.
“Strong diamond jewellery sales during the holidays and lower rough diamond supply volumes from the major producers are expected to maintain these stable prices through to the company's upcoming January sale.”
Medium to longer-term, Mountain Province’s outlook for rough diamonds remains positive. Retail diamond jewellery sales in the important US market confirm a growing preference for smaller, lower priced diamonds which align well with the diamond profile of the GK mine, which is a joint venture with De Beers.