Mountain Province Diamonds Announces Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2018 Production and Sale Results

Press Release

TORONTO and NEW YORK, Jan. 15, 2019 – Mountain Province Diamonds Inc. (“Mountain Province”, the “Company”) (TSX and NASDAQ: MPVD) today announces production and sales results for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2018 (“Q4 2018”) and full year 2018 (“FY 2018”) from the Gahcho Kué Diamond Mine (“GK Mine”).

Q4 and Full Year 2018 Production Highlights
(all figures reported on a 100% basis unless otherwise stated)

• 751,448 tonnes treated during the fourth quarter, 8% higher than the same quarter last year. For the full year 2018, the plant treated 3,194,360 tonnes,15% higher than in FY 2017.
• In Q4 2018,1,545,786 carats were recovered at an average grade of 2.06 carats per tonne. Full year 2018, 6,936,894 carats at an average grade of 2.17 carats per tonne, 17% higher than total carats recovered in 2017.
• In Q4 2018, the Company sold 822,548 carats at an average value of $USD 65 per carat ($CAD 86 per carat) for total proceeds of $USD 53.6 million ($CAD 70.5 million). For the full year 2018, the Company sold 3,252,491 carats at an average value of $USD 74 per carat ($CAD 96 per carat) for total proceeds of $USD 240 million ($CAD 311 million).

Q4 and FY 21018 Production Statistics¹

		2018 Q4	2017 Q4	YoY Variance	FY 2018	FY 2017	YoY Variance
Total tonnes mined (ore and waste)		11,365,990	8,665,000	31%	41,444,057	33,036,000	25%
Ore tonnes mined		670,707	839,000	-20%	2,908,184	3,513,000	-17%
Ore tonnes treated		751,448	693,000	8%	3,194,360	2,775,000	15%
Carats recovered		1,545,786	1,627,000	-5%	6,936,894	5,934,000	17%
Carats recovered (49% share)		757,435	797,000	-5%	3,399,078	2,908,000	17%
Recovered grade (carats per tonne)		2.06	2.35	-12%	2.17	2.14	1%
All figures reported are on 100% basis unless otherwise stated

Q4 and Full Year 2018 Diamond Sales

Diamond sales were in line with our expectations and reflect current market conditions. Prices for the better quality larger goods, where the majority of our value lies, remained strong throughout the year, however, during the latter part of H2 2018, lower qualities and smaller sizes experienced price pressure, driven predominantly by a weakened Indian Rupee against the US Dollar. Demand at retail in both the US and China for luxury goods were reported to be strong overall in 2018, initial reports from the Chinese and US holiday retail season are generally positive.

Reid Mackie, the Company’s Vice President of Diamond Marketing, commented: “we had a strong start to 2018 with price increases in most rough diamond categories. Low quality and smaller sized rough diamonds did experience price pressure during H2 2018, but our sales process attracted sufficient demand to achieve the selling of all our production for the year.  We expect to see more interest in the first quarter rough sales where the market is traditionally stronger.”

Q4 and Full Year 2018 Summary

With another solid operating quarter in Q4 2018, the GK Mine ended 2018 with record diamond production of 6.94 million carats at an average grade of 2.17 carats per tonne, 17% higher than the previous year. 11.4 million total tonnes were mined during Q4 2018 bringing the full year 2018 figures to over 41.4 million tonnes or 25% higher than in 2017.

Stuart Brown, the Company’s President and Chief Executive Officer, commented: “From a production perspective 2018 was a good year for Mountain Province Diamonds where we achieved our expected tonnes mined and recovered a record amount of carats. Operationally, the mine has settled down and our expectation is that it will continue to perform at these levels in the future. So far in 2019, production has been positive.”

Mountain Province Diamonds is a 49% participant with De Beers Canada in the Gahcho Kué diamond mine located in Canada’s Northwest Territories.  Gahcho Kué is the world’s largest new diamond mine, consisting of a cluster of four diamondiferous kimberlites, three of which are being developed and mined under the initial 12 year mine plan.

Qualified Person
The disclosure in this news release of scientific and technical information regarding Mountain Province’s mineral properties has been reviewed and approved by Keyvan Salehi, P.Eng., MBA, a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

For further information: Stuart Brown, President and CEO, 161 Bay Street, Suite 1410, Toronto, Ontario M5J 2S1, Phone: (416) 361-3562, E-mail: info@mountainprovince.com; Keyvan Salehi, Investor Relations, 161 Bay Street, Suite 1410, Toronto, Ontario M5J 2S1, Phone: (416) 361-3562, E-mail: info@mountainprovince.com

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