TORONTO AND NEW YORK, May 5 /CNW/ --
Shares Issued and Outstanding: 78.7 million
TSX: MPV
NY- AMEX: MDM
Actual Price per Carat $185 - up 38%
Modeled Price per Carat $122 - up 41%
(All values are in US Dollars)
TORONTO AND NEW YORK, May 5 /CNW/ - Mountain Province Diamonds Inc.
('Mountain Province', the 'Company') (TSX: MPV, NY-AMEX: MDM) today
announced the results of an updated independent valuation of the
diamonds recovered from the Gahcho Kué Project. The valuation was
conducted by WWW International Diamond Consultants Ltd. and took place
at the London offices of the Diamond Trading Company in early April,
2011. All diamond values presented below are based on the WWW Price
Book as at April 11, 2011.
Importantly, for the first time, the Gahcho Kué diamonds were grouped
into larger parcels, each parcel representing diamonds from the Hearne,
Tuzo and the separate lobes of the 5034 kimberlite. In the opinion of
WWW, grouping of the diamonds into larger parcels increased the
accuracy of the diamond valuation.
Patrick Evans, Mountain Province President and CEO, said: 'The results
of this independent diamond valuation reflect the strong performance of
rough diamond prices since the previous valuation conducted on April
2010. Based on the analysis of leading diamond producers and analysts,
the global diamond industry will experience peak diamond supply during
2011, with burgeoning demand - particularly from the robust Chinese and
Indian markets - outstripping mine supply. There is a strong
probability that rough diamond prices will continue to experience
strong double digit increases as production from aging mines decrease
and new mine supply falls short of growing demand. As the world's
largest and richest diamond development project, Gahcho Kué is well
placed to enjoy excellent diamond price support as it prepares for
production'.
Table 1 below reflects the actual price per carat for the parcel of
8,317.29 carats of diamonds recovered from the Gahcho Kué Project.
Table 1
__________________________________________________________
| Actual Price US$/carat |
|__________________________________________________________|
| Pipe | Zone |Total Carats|$/Carat|Total Dollars|
|______|________________|____________|_______|_____________|
|5034 |Centre/East Lobe| 1,957.54| 280| 411,683|
|______|________________|____________|_______|_____________|
| |West Lobe | 1,132.14| 108| 122,676|
|______|________________|____________|_______|_____________|
|Hearne| | 2,905.76| 93| 269,689|
|______|________________|____________|_______|_____________|
|Tuzo | | 2,321.85| 315| 730,975|
|______|________________|____________|_______|_____________|
|Total | | 8,317.29| $185| $1,535,024|
|______|________________|____________|_______|_____________|
Note: Total Dollars are the result of rounding.
In their report to Mountain Province, WWW stated: 'The most valuable
stone is in the Tuzo sample. This 25.13 carat stone is the largest
stone in all of the bulk samples. The stone is an octahedron of H/I
colour which WWW valued at $20,000 per carat giving a total value of
$502,600'.
WWW added: 'The stone with the highest value per carat sample is a 9.90
carat stone in the 5034 C/E sample. This is a makeable stone of high
colour (D/E) which WWW valued at $24,000 per carat giving a total value
of $237,600'.
Commenting further, Mr. Evans said: 'Experience shows that during the
mining phase larger populations of large, high value diamonds are
commonly recovered, which has the potential to improve modeled diamond
revenues. Besides the high-value 25.13 and 9.9 carat diamonds referred
to above, several other large high-value diamonds of gem quality have
been recovered from Gahcho Kué, including 7.0 carat, 6.6 carat and 5.9
carat diamonds from the 5034 kimberlite and 8.7 carat, 6.4 carat and
4.9 carat diamonds from the Hearne kimberlite. The presence of coarser
diamonds is an important driver of overall diamond value at Gahcho
Kué.'
Table 2 below presents models of the average price per carat (US$/carat)
for each kimberlite. The modeled price per carat is determined using
statistical methods to estimate the average value of diamonds that will
be recovered from potential future production from Gahcho Kué.
Table 2
_______________________________________________
|Pipe |High Model|Base Model|Low Model|
|_______________|__________|__________|_________|
|5034 Centre | 169 | 134 | 116 |
|_______________|__________|__________|_________|
|5034 West | 172 | 133 | 120 |
|_______________|__________|__________|_________|
|5034 North/East| 196 | 144 | 123 |
|_______________|__________|__________|_________|
|Hearne | 139 | 110 | 100 |
|_______________|__________|__________|_________|
| | | | |
|_______________|__________|__________|_________|
|Tuzo | 136 | 103 | 97 |
|_______________|__________|__________|_________|
|Average | $161 | $122 | $109 |
|_______________|__________|__________|_________|
Note: 1 mm nominal square mesh
Diamond values are in US Dollars
For mine feasibility studies WWW recommends using the base case models
for defining the resources and reserves. The 'high' and 'low' models
are included for sensitivity analysis.
The WWW averaged modeled price per carat for the Gahcho Kué kimberlites
is $122, which represents a 41 percent increase over the WWW 2010
average price. The WWW models use size distribution models (carats per
size class) developed by De Beers.
Mr. Evans added: 'The 2010 independent definitive feasibility study,
under which the revenue assumption was based on the mean average of the
April 2010 WWW and De Beers modeled diamond prices, reported a 33.9
percent IRR excluding sunk costs. Further, sensitivity analysis shows
that a 10 percent increase in modeled diamond prices results in an
approximate 3 percent increase in the project IRR. Accordingly, the 41
percent increase in the modeled price over the past year would result
in an approximate 12 percent increase in the project IRR.'
****
Located in Canada's Northwest Territories, Gahcho Kué is the largest new
diamond projects under development globally. The project consists of a
cluster of kimberlites, three of which have a probable reserve of 31.2
million tonnes grading at 1.57 carats per tonne containing 49 million
carats. The Gahcho Kué project is a joint venture between Mountain
Province Diamonds and De Beers Canada Inc. An independent 43-101
feasibility study was completed in late 2010. The project environmental
impact assessment was also completed and filed in late 2010. The
project is currently undergoing permitting.
Qualified Person
This news release has been prepared under the supervision of Carl G.
Verley, P.Geo., who serves as the qualified person under National
Instrument 43-101.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release may contain forward-looking statements, within the
meaning of the 'safe-harbor' provision of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995, regarding the Company's business or
financial condition. Actual results could differ materially from those
described in this news release as a result of numerous factors, some of
which are outside the control of the Company.
To view this news release in HTML formatting, please use the following URL: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/May2011/05/c9836.html
Mountain Province Diamonds Inc.
Patrick Evans, President and CEO
Tel: 416-670-5114
401 Bay Street, Suite 2700
Toronto, Ontario M5H 2Y4
Phone: (416) 361-3562
Fax: (416) 603-8565
info@mountainprovince.com
