Canada is among the largest diamond producers in the world and ranks third by value. According to the Kimberley Process data, 13 mn carats were recovered in the country in 2016 for about $1.4 bn. The average price per one carat was $107.18.
Mountain Province Diamonds Inc. is a major partner (49%) of De Beers Canada in the diamond production at the Gahcho Kué mine in the North-West Territories, Canada.
Image credit: Mountain Province Diamonds
Figure 1. Location map of the Gahcho Kué diamond mining project
Estimated diamond reserves at this deposit are about 80 mn carats. It is expected that on the average Gahcho Kué will produce 4.5 mn cts per year (100%) within 12 years. It is anticipated that on the average the diamond production over the first five-year period (2017-2021) will make 5.4 mn cts per year. So, today Gahcho Kué is the largest new diamond deposit where a full-scale diamond recovery has started.
Thanks to the joint venture with De Beers, the company has good opportunities to use the practical experience of the world leader in the international diamond production. The companies agreed to share the mine’s operational costs and then each of them will sell its share of rough diamonds recovered at the mine.
Image credit: Mountain Province Diamonds
Figure 2. Diamond production at the Gahcho Kué mine.
In January 2017, the company declared that it had completed the first sales of diamonds produced at the Gahcho Kué project. About 49,420 carats of diamonds were sold for $6.27 mn at the average price of about $127 per carat. And at the end of November, Mountain Province Diamonds announced the results of the recent ninth rough diamond trading session. The company sold 280,000 carats of diamonds for a total of $19 million. Over 150 companies took part in the session. The pricing at the ninth trading session was stable for the company. The prices for all the assortments were on the average 2% higher than at the eighth tender.
The technical and economic performance indicators of the Mountain Province Diamonds in the diamond production from reaching the project capacity in 2017 and the estimated figures for 2018-2022 are given below.
Diamond production at the Gahcho Kué mine, 2016-2022*
Based on the data of the press releases, quarterly and annual reports of Mountain Province Diamonds, 2016-2017
* Total sums are given for the Gahcho Kué mine (Mountain Province Diamonds – 49%)
** 2017 - for 10 months. 2018-2022 - estimates.
So, among the 2d-tier world diamond miners, Mountain Province Diamonds is a company that rose through the ranks from an (exploration) junior to a large-scale 2d-tier diamond miner.
The reserves available at the Gahcho Kué mine show that Mountain Province Diamonds has a promising outlook till 2030 provided it would keep the diamond production at the level of the 2d-tier large companies.
The practical experience in the organization of diamond mining at the Gahcho Kué mine is of interest and help for the specialists of the ALROSA’s diamond mining operations working in Yakutia, taking into account the complex geological and climate conditions as well as the extreme environment in which rough diamonds are extracted.
Yury Danilov, Ph. D., Director of «Expert» Information and Analysis Center at Ammosov North-Eastern Federal University
