Sourcing

50-Carat Diamond Found at New Mine

SourcingOct 27, 2016

50-Carat Diamond Found at New Mine

It is the largest diamond recovered since production began at Gahcho Kué, the new mine in Canada operated by De Beers and Mountain Province Diamonds.

20161027_GahchoKue.jpg
This rough diamond, which weighs more than 50 carats and is seen here next to a Canadian dime, is the largest to be recovered at Gahcho Kué since ramp-up production began in August.

New York--Mountain Province Diamonds has announced the recovery of a 50.25-carat gem-quality diamond at the Gahcho Kué mine in Canada’s Northwest Territories.

It is the largest stone found since ramp-up production began at the mine on Aug. 1.

Mountain Province also retrieved three fancy yellow diamonds weighing between 3 and 5 carats each.

“The 50-carat diamond recovered in September is the largest diamond recovered to date and provides further confirmation that the Gahcho Kué has a population of large, high-quality gem diamonds,” said Mountain Province President and CEO Patrick Evans.

He continued, “It is also exciting to see a population of good-size fancy yellow diamonds, which offers encouragement that we’ll see further fancy diamonds as the production ramps up.”

Mountain Province controls 49 percent of the mine, with De Beers controlling 51 percent. The companies bid on fancy color and special diamonds, classified as those that weigh above 10.8-carats, on a monthly basis.

De Beers won the August production and Mountain Province won September.

Mountain Province will sell the 50-carat diamond and fancy yellow diamonds at its first open tender in Antwerp in January, where it will also offer its 49 percent share of run-of-mine production. After that, the company expects to hold open tenders every five weeks.

Gahcho Kué has produced 198,000 carats in the production period from Aug. 1 to Sept. 30, 97,000 of which belong to Mountain Province.
Ashley Davisis the senior editor, fashion at National Jeweler, covering all things related to design, style and trends.

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