Mountain Province Sees Average Price Decline

RAPAPORT… The average price of rough diamonds sold by Mountain
Province fell in December as a large proportion of the goods on offer
were smaller stones, the company said.

The miner sold 364,000 carats of rough from its
Gahcho Kué mine at an average price of $53 per carat, for a total of
$19.1 million, it reported in a statement Wednesday.

The average price was below October’s $60 per carat and
November’s $66 per carat. However, the like-for-like price for equivalent
diamonds rose 3% over the previous month, the company explained.

The December sale, Mountain Province’s 10th and final tender
of the year, did not include any fancy or special diamonds, as De Beers won the
bid to sell these goods. Mountain Province holds a 49% share in the Canada
mine, while De Beers owns the remaining 51%. The two companies split the “run-of-mine” production according to their stakes in the venture,
but compete against each other for higher-value diamonds.

“Our 10th sale saw further stabilization of rough prices and
strengthening of competition, with over 150 companies attending the tender, the
highest to date,” said Reid Mackie, vice president of diamond marketing at
Mountain Province. “This, combined with solid holiday sales results reported by
the retail sector, bodes well for a positive rough market reopening in
January.”