Due to issues with the Indian diamond industry, Mountain Province was forced to withdraw a quarter of the rough diamonds from its first sale of production at Gahcho Kué.
According to the company, the retracted goods were mostly brown and lower-quality items that either did not receive bids or received “unacceptably low” offers. The sale, which took place in Antwerp from January 16 to 25, drew USD $6.3 million from 49,420 carats of rough stones. At $127 per carat, the tender’s average realized price was inflated due to the removal of lower-value diamonds.
“The level of demand for our smaller lower-quality diamonds was disappointing, but we expect improvements as Indian liquidity issues abate,” says Patrick Evans, CEO of Mountain Province.
Gahcho Kué began production in September, with its output growing to 862,000 carats by the end of 2016. Mountain Province expects to achieve commercial production at the mine by the end of March.
