Mountain Province eyes diamond grade improvements in NWT
Mountain Province Diamonds Inc. [MPVD-TSX, OTCQX] has announced production and sales results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2025, from the Gahcho Kue Diamond Mine in the Northwest Territories.
Second quarter highlights included 708,072 carats recovered, a 46% decrease from 1.32 million carats in the second quarter of 2024. The average grade of carats per tonnes was 0.8, a 41% decline from 1.37 carats per tonne in the same period last year.
The 134,597 ore tonnes mined also marked a reduction of 86% from 971,311 ore tonnes mined in the year ago quarter as all ore treated came from the stockpile.
In the second quarter, 411,114 carats were sold for $36.8 million (US$26.6 million), averaging $90 per carat (US$65 per carat). In the second quarter of 2024, 557,361 carats were sold for $56.8 million (US$41.5 million), averaging $166 per carat (US$124 per carat).
On Friday, Mountain Province shares were unchanged at $0.05. The shares trade in a 52-week range of 17 cents and $0.05.
Mountain Province Diamonds is a 49% participant with De Beers Canada in the Gahcho Kue mine, which is located 300 kilometres northeast of Yellowknife.
“Q2 is always a very busy time for the operations with the ice road resupply finalized at the very end of the Q1 and the very cold temperatures in the Q1 and Q2 seasons,” said Mountain Province President and CEO Mark Wall. “The resupply was completed as planned. The Frechette period then follows which is a challenging time to maintain the roads and manage water in the processing plant,” he said. “We are now through this period, the roads are in good condition, and the processing plant is running well.”
In May, 2025, the company mined a small amount of ore from the 5034 North East Extension (NEX) orebody and additional tonnes in June (2025), totalling 34,545 ore tonnes. This is transitional material at the very top of the NEX orebody, which is blind to surface. The company said this transitional material delivered a much-improved grade compared to the stockpile material although the grade in this area was lower than anticipated. “We are mining through the transitional zone and expect the grade to further improve as we progress,” Wall said.
“While the processing facility continued to perform very well, the low-grade stockpiles being treated resulted in low carat production for the quarter,” he said. “During Q3 we steadily ramp up NEX production with approximately 100,000 tonnes in July, 140,000 tonnes in August, and 275,000 tonnes in September,” Wall said. “NEX tonnes are expected to return to the 100,000 range in October and then return to the 270,000-tonne range going forward,” he said.
In August 2024, the company released an updated mineral reserve and resource estimate as well as a life of mine plan for its Gahcho Kue mine. The property consists of several kimberlites that are actively being mined, developed and explored for full development.