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Lower Grades Hit Mountain Province Production
Oct 24, 2019 7:50 AM
By Rapaport News
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RAPAPORT... Production at the Gahcho Kué mine failed to meet Mountain
Province’s expectations in the third quarter, as bad weather led to the
mining of lower-grade ore.
Ore from the asset yielded 1.7 carats of rough diamonds per
tonne in the three months ending September 30 — 28% lower than the same period
a year ago. Total output fell to 1.5 million carats versus 1.8 million in 2018,
even as the amount of material treated increased 17% to 890,325 tonnes.
“The severe weather conditions encountered during the
earlier part of the year caused delays in the mine-plan schedule, and access to
the planned higher-grade blocks of the orebody was limited,” Mountain Province,
which owns 49% of the asset, said last week. De Beers holds the remaining 51%.
Additionally, output suffered as a result of ongoing plant
modifications to increase the amount of ore processed daily, the company
explained.
“Higher plant throughput capability as a result of the
ongoing plant modifications, and subsequent need for more ore sources, required
the processing of all available ore sources, which mostly consisted of lower-grade-ore
tonnes, all of which are reflected in the lower grades and carats recovered.”
Revenue for the July-to-September period fell 27% to $41.6
million from the sale of 791,252 carats, while the average price dropped 28% to
$53 per carat.
Mountain Province expects total full-year production at Gahcho
Kué to meet its original forecast of 6.6 million to 6.9 million carats, as it
moves to the higher-grade portion of the mine in the fourth quarter, it added.
Image: Gahcho Kué mine. (Mountain Province)
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Tags:
De Beers, Gahcho Kué, mountain province, Rapaport News
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