Mountain Province Losses Increase in “Challenging Market”

Mountain Province reported increased net losses for the latest quarter as prices keep on dropping in a "challenging market".

Mountain Province reported increased net losses for the latest quarter as prices keep on dropping in a “challenging market”.

The Canadian miner today (7 November) announced a net loss of $13.6m for the three months to 30 September, following on from a $4.7m loss in Q2 (all figures are in US dollars).

“In Q3 2024 our sales achieved 100 per cent sell-through with no unsold stock held at the end of September and a higher average selling price than the three preceding quarters,” said Reid Mackie, VP sales and marketing at Mountain Province.

The average price per carat was, however, down 21 per cent on a year ago – from $95 to $75.

The company sold a 679,599 carats were sold for $50.8m, compared to 478,653 carats in Q3 2023 for $45.3m. Year-on-year the number of carats sold was up almost 30 per cent, but revenue increased by just 12 per cent.

Adjusted EBITDA was $12.5m and loss from mine operations was $8m.

As for operations at the Gahcho Kue mine (pictured), the number of tonnes of ore treated increased 10 per cent year-on-year, but the number of carats recovered fell by 10 per cent.

CEO Mark Wall explained that this was “driven by planned lower grade in Q3 and unplanned lower grade in March and early Q2 of 2024”.

He said that while the diamond market had been disappointing, he was optimistic that the price environment would recover during 2025 and that it would be followed by a very strong production year in 2026.

Source: IDEX

Rio Tinto Buys Remaining Share of Diavik Diamond Mine

Rio Tinto office in Montreal, QC, Canada

Rio Tinto, the world’s second-largest miner, just became the sole owner of the Diavik diamond mine in Canada’s Northwest Territories on Thursday. Despite saying in the past the Company was not interested in taking full control of the aging arctic mine, Rio Tinto ended up buying the 40% share held by Dominion Diamond Mines for a total stake of 100%.

Part of the transaction includes Rio Tinto releasing Dominion and its lenders from any outstanding liabilities or obligations involving funding the operation or the closure of the joint venture. On the other end, Rio Tinto will receive all remaining Diavik assets held by Dominion including a security cash collateral for the potential future closure for the mine and unsold production.

Why the Buyout Now?
Dominion, which used to be the fourth-largest diamond producer, suffered some financial troubles which played out in court over several months last year. These troubles ultimately led Dominion to sell its other Canadian mine, Ekati in December 2020. In 2017, The Washington Companies ended up buying the Company for $1.2 billion.

This deal follows a 19 month long process beginning in April 2020 by Dominion Diamond Mines filing for insolvency protection under the Canadian Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act.

Diavik has been in production since 2003 and is eventually facing closures in 2025 which will cost hundreds of millions of dollars to fully clean up. Diavik is Canada’s largest diamond mine, and yielded 6.2 million carats of rough diamonds in 2020.

Rio Tinto Minerals boss Sinead Kaufman said in a statement, “Diavik will now move forward with certainty to continue supplying customers with high quality, responsibly sourced Canadian diamonds.”

Worries and concerns began to surround the diamond market due to production coming to a

halt during the global COVID-19 pandemic, with some people worried the market would never recover. However, Alrosa, the world’s top diamond miner by output, claims the market has fully recovered from the effects of the global pandemic, and sales of jewelry and rough diamonds are up 23% this year compared to 2020.

Source: miningfeeds

Victor Mine To Be Closed By De Beers in 2019

De Beers Victor Mine Canada

Production will cease at the De Beers Victor mine in Canada in 2019, the company announced Wednesday.

The Diamond Mine in Ontario started production in July 2008 will continue to operate until the open pit is exhausted. This is in line with the company’s original study of mine and the plan for the project.

The mine has yielded 7 million carats of rough exceeding the forecast of 6 million carats predicted for its life of mine.

 

De Beers discovered the Victor kimberlite cluster in 1987 the first economically viable mine in Canada.