Just the beginning.
Mountain Province Diamonds Announces Results of Independent
Valuation of Gahcho Kué Diamonds
TORONTO and NEW YORK, Aug 04, 2010 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Mountain Province Diamonds Inc. ("Mountain Province", the "Company") /quotes/comstock/11t!e:mpv (CA:MPV 3.40, +0.18, +5.59%) today announced the results of an updated independent valuation of the diamonds recovered from the Gahcho Kué Project during the exploration phase. The valuation was conducted by WWW International Diamond Consultants Ltd. and took place at the London offices of the Diamond Trading Company in early April, 2010. All diamond values presented below are based on the WWW Price Book as at 13 April, 2010.
Commenting, Mountain Province President and CEO, Patrick Evans, said: "We are pleased with the results of this independent diamond valuation, which reflect a statistically robust sample and rising rough diamond prices since the onset of the credit crises."
Table 1 below reflects the actual price per carat for the parcel of 8,243.56 carats of diamonds recovered from the Gahcho Kué Project.
Table 1
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Actual Price US$/carat
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Pipe Zone Total Carats $/Carat Total Dollars
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5034 Centre Lobe 633.80 80.23 50,852
West Lobe 1,119.40 79.63 89,134
East Lobe 1,264.21 178.59 225,770
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5034 Total 3,017.41 121.22 365,757
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Hearne 2,906.45 60.44 175,654
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Tuzo 2,319.70 243.03 563,750
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Total 8,243.56 134.06 1,105,161
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Table 2 below presents models of the average price per carat (US$/carat) for each kimberlite lithology. The modeled price per carat is determined using statistical methods to estimate the average value of diamonds that will be recovered from potential future production from Gahcho Kué.
Table 2
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Modeled Average Price US$/carat
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+ 1.00mm +1.50mm
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Pipe High Model Low High Model Low
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5034 NE Lobe 131 107 96 143 116 104
5034 Centre 122 100 91 137 113 102
5034 West 141 114 103 157 127 114
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Tuzo 81 67 61 93 77 70
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Hearne 82 68 62 93 78 71
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Note: 1.50mm prices provided for reference purposes only.
In their report to Mountain Province, WWW stated: "The Tuzo sample and the 5034 East sample both contained one high value large stone. For Tuzo there was a 25.14 carat stone valued at $17,000 per carat and 5034 East had a 9.90 carat stone valued at $15,000 per carat. It is encouraging that such high value stones were recovered in samples of this size. If they are found in the same frequency throughout the resource then the modelled APs (Average Prices') will certainly be towards the 'high' values."
Commenting further, Mr. Evans said: "Experience shows that during the mining phase larger populations of large, high value diamonds are commonly recovered, which has the potential to improve diamond revenues. Besides the high-value 25.14 and 9.9 carat diamonds referred to above, several other large high-value diamonds of gem quality have been recovered from Gahcho Kué, including 7.0 carat, 6.6 carat and 5.9 carat diamonds from the 5034 kimberlite and 8.7 carat, 6.4 carat and 4.9 carat diamonds from the Hearne kimberlite. The presence of coarser diamonds is an important driver of overall diamond value at Gahcho Kué."
Mountain Province is also pleased to announce that the Gahcho Kué independent definitive feasibility study remains on track for completion at the end of this month.
Located in Canada's Northwest Territories, Gahcho Kué is one of the largest new diamond projects under development globally. The project consists of a cluster of kimberlites, three of which have an indicated resource (1.00mm cut-off) of approximately 30.2 million tonnes grading at 1.67 carats per tonne (approximately 50.5 million carats) and an inferred resource (1.00mm cut-off) of approximately 6 million tonnes grading at 1.73 carats per tonne (approximately 10.3 million carats). Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.
Qualified Person
This news release has been prepared under the supervision of Carl G. Verley, P.Geo., who serves as the qualified person under National Instrument 43-101.
