Mountain Province Diamonds (MPD) has observed a rebound in rough diamond prices at its Gahcho Kue mine in the first quarter of this year. Despite a 30% decrease compared to Q1 2023, the Canadian miner managed to sell rough diamonds worth US$66 million, indicating a 14% increase from the previous quarter’s US$58 million.
The average per carat price dipped to US$69 from US$98 in Q1 2023 but showed a slight improvement from Q4 2023’s US$63.
MPD, which reported a loss of US$32.3 million for FY 2023, has been taking steps to reduce discretionary spending at the Gahcho Kue mine in Canada’s Northwest Territories, operated jointly with De Beers.
Despite encountering challenges, Q1 demonstrated strong performance in terms of ore tonnes mined and treated. Mark Wall, the company’s president and CEO, emphasized their focus on production and cost optimization while exploring avenues to enhance the value of Canadian diamonds globally.
Wall noted, “The processing plant continues to perform well following improvements in 2023. However, lower-than-anticipated grade from the mine in March resulted in a slightly diminished carat production compared to Q1 2023.”
