157-carat diamond recovered in NWT

by Samantha Ashenhurst | December 18, 2020 10:22 am

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An exceptional diamond weighing 157.40 carats has been found at Mountain Province Diamonds’ Gahcho Kué mine in the Northwest Territories.

The diamond, which the company says is the site’s largest find to date, will be offered for sale during the first quarter of 2021.

“The recovery of the largest-ever diamond… was certainly a boost to the morale of the company,” says president and CEO, Stuart Brown. “It shows that the mine, although a high-volume producer of predominantly smaller diamonds, does produce diamonds of exceptional size and quality.”

Mountain Province also released its results for the fourth quarter of the year, reporting 956,348 carats were sold during this period for total proceeds of $80.2 million (US$61.7 million) ($83.82 [US$64.53] per carat).

“The diamond industry has faced immense challenges during 2020, so to end the year with such a strong sales performance is very encouraging,” Brown says. “Rough diamond prices, in the larger and better-qualities, have been exceptional and, pleasingly, we saw further improvement in the smaller and lower quality diamonds which we believe will continue to strengthen in 2021.”

The Gahcho Kué mine, which is located about 280 kilometres northeast of Yellowknife, is co-owned by Mountain Province (49 per cent) and De Beers Group (51 per cent).

Source URL: https://www.jewellerybusiness.com/news/157-carat-diamond-recovered-in-nwt/

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