Past year: ▼ 73%(0.05c – 6.00c USD)
Each one in plain English, with the numbers worked through for a shareholder.
1 Dec 2022drilling result▲ GoodMajor
Sixteen holes for 5,040 metres through the Hearne Northwest Extension, spotted in a pit bench face in late 2021, showed ten significant kimberlite intersections - up to 86 metres in hole MPV-22-568C - and modelling suggests a volume potentially equal to the Hearne orebody as originally defined. It sits below the exposed benches and plunges north-west, so the joint venture is looking at whether it can be mined underground.
23 Nov 2022drilling progress report▲ GoodMajor
Finished the 2022 Kennady North program with 25 of 35 holes hitting kimberlite over more than 5,000 metres, and a new body, KE, about 450 metres east of the Kelvin deposit - three holes through kimberlite sheets up to 2.13 metres, thin so far and to be drilled again in 2023. Eight volcaniclastic intersections came from the North Anomaly, and the ground now runs to over 113,000 hectares.
17 May 2022drilling progress report▲ GoodMajor
Halfway through a 6,000 metre winter program on Kennady North, 16 of 20 holes had hit kimberlite across three of four target areas - all seven holes north of Faraday 1-3, all five south of Faraday 2 at an average 4.5 metres wide, and four of six south of Kelvin. The North Anomaly holes included volcaniclastic kimberlite, which the company notes often points to a larger body.
29 Mar 2022resource reserve update● Neutral
The full JDS technical report on the Gahcho Kué mine effective 31 December 2021, filed alongside the results announcement of the same day.
29 Mar 2022debt financing● NeutralMajor
Closed the US$50 million junior secured loan from Desmond and issued him warrants over 41,000,000 shares at US$0.60975, exercisable to December 2027. The loan ranks behind the second lien notes, can be prepaid without penalty, and is a related-party transaction under Canadian minority-protection rules; the warrants were partial consideration for the credit rather than a separate raise.
29 Mar 2022resource reserve update▲ GoodMajor
The updated technical report put Mountain Province's 49% share of the mine at a C$1,233 million pre-tax and C$964 million post-tax present value at a 7.5% discount. Reserves stood at 42.6 million carats at 1.51 carats per tonne, with 2.6 million carats added before depletion, and the Tuzo reserve grade rose 11% to 1.33 carats per tonne. Outside reserves sit 3.0 million indicated carats at 1.25 and 20.3 million inferred at 1.72 carats per tonne, and the mine plan moved to 3.6 million tonnes a year.
1 Mar 2022debt financing▲ GoodMajor
Disinterested shareholders approved the US$50 million Desmond loan and its 41 million warrants with 87% in favour, which the company framed as a step towards refinancing its debt later in 2022. It also started a 6,000 metre drilling and geophysics program on the wholly-owned Kennady North ground aimed at new discoveries.
2 Feb 2022debt financing● NeutralMajor
Mailed the circular for a 28 February vote on the Desmond loan, now firmed up: US$50 million junior secured to December 2027 at 8% to December 2022, plus warrants over 41,000,000 shares exercisable at US$0.60975 - about US$25 million in total - rather than the C$0.78 first floated. Only disinterested shareholders could vote.
26 Jan 2022production update▲ Good
The first sale of 2022 brought US$25.0 million from 181,851 carats at US$137 a carat, or US$98 adjusted for the mix of goods, on a strengthening rough market. Guidance for the year was 3.35 to 3.60 million tonnes treated for 6.3 to 6.7 million carats at $121 to $127 a tonne treated. A Covid-19 outbreak declared at the mine in late December was still disrupting shift rotations.
4 Jan 2022debt financing● NeutralMajor
Set out the terms of a proposed US$50 million loan from Dermot Desmond ranking behind the existing second lien notes: 8% to December 2022, then 2% above whatever replaces the notes, maturing December 2027, with 41 million warrants at C$0.78 attached. Nothing was binding yet - it needed definitive documents, regulatory clearance and a vote of disinterested shareholders. The company also said the undrawn US$25 million first lien revolver would be used within weeks to fund the winter ice-road resupply, and that it expected US$50 million of extra cash flow by end-2022 to help a wider debt restructuring.
27 Sept 2021debt financing▲ GoodMajor
Repaid the Dunebridge term loan in full with a final US$11.5 million payment, three months early, and extended the US$25 million revolving facility from the same lender to 31 March 2022 on unchanged terms for a fee of 2% of drawn principal. The board again recorded the finding that the company was in serious financial difficulty, the wording that lets a related-party deal skip a formal valuation - Dunebridge is ultimately owned by largest shareholder Dermot Desmond.
12 May 2021debt financing▼ BadMajor
Borrowed a further US$33 million from Dunebridge at a fixed 10% a year plus a 5% fee on each drawing, on top of the existing US$25 million revolving facility, with the term loan shrinking to US$22 million in July and due at the end of December 2021. Two directors connected to the major shareholder recused themselves, and the board recorded a formal finding that the company was in serious financial difficulty - the plainest statement of distress in the record so far.
25 Jan 2021production update▲ Good
The first sale of 2021 raised US$21.8 million from 241,827 carats at US$90 a carat, 8% better on a like-for-like basis than the December sale, as rough and polished markets recovered. A 157 carat stone named Polaris, colourless in daylight but fluorescing deep blue, was held back for the February sale.
11 June 2020asset acquisition disposition● NeutralMajor
Completed the Dunebridge diamond sale agreement after conditional Toronto exchange approval and consent from all lenders, with the first tranche of about US$22 million due the same day. The independent committee was advised by Lazard Canada and Stikeman Elliott, with Bennett Jones for the company.
8 June 2020asset acquisition disposition▼ BadMajor
With Antwerp shut and no traditional buyers, agreed to sell US$50 million of run-of-mine diamonds (stones under 10.8 carats) to Dunebridge Worldwide at prevailing market prices, the first tranche about US$22 million. Dunebridge takes a 10% fee a year on each sale plus costs, and any surplus when it eventually resells is split equally. A committee of four directors independent of both management and the major shareholder reviewed it against the alternatives - a structure that signals a related-party transaction.
3 Apr 2020debt default or forbearance● NeutralMajor
Scotiabank and Nedbank relaxed the covenants on the undrawn US$50 million revolving facility for three quarters of 2020, lifting the maximum leverage ratio from 4.0 times to 4.5 at March, 5.0 at June and 4.25 at September; if June leverage exceeded 4.5 times, half the facility would become unavailable. This is covenant relief granted as Covid-19 closed the diamond market, not a tightening, and the facility remained undrawn.
24 Mar 2020resource reserve update▼ BadMajor
Wrote $115.8 million off the carrying value of the mine because expected future diamond prices had been cut to match the market, turning the fourth quarter into a $115.7 million loss, and withdrew all guidance over Covid-19. The mine itself performed: 3.58 million tonnes treated in 2019 for 6.82 million carats at 1.90 carats per tonne, with fourth-quarter grade at 2.11, but realised prices fell to US$64 a carat and cash costs ran at $103 a tonne treated and $49 a carat recovered.
23 Mar 2020resource reserve update● Neutral
The JDS technical report on the Gahcho Kué mine effective 31 December 2019, filed alongside the 2019 annual results.
18 Mar 2020production update▼ BadMajor
Postponed its third sale of 2020 indefinitely after Antwerp, where all its diamonds are sold, shut its commercial buildings from 19 March over Covid-19. The mine kept running, but with the single sales channel closed the company had no way to turn carats into cash and warned later sales could go the same way.
31 Jan 2020listing compliance notice▼ BadMajor
Chose to leave Nasdaq rather than fix a share price that had sat below the US$1 minimum for more than 30 trading days, saying almost all volume was on the Toronto exchange and the cost of the second listing was no longer worth it. Last Nasdaq trading was around 10 February 2020; the shares kept trading in Toronto and the company said it would eventually seek to deregister from the SEC entirely.
11 June 2019drilling result▲ GoodMajor
Found a new kimberlite, named Wilson, about 200 metres east of the Tuzo pipe and inside the planned Tuzo open pit - the first kimberlite discovered on the joint venture leases in over 20 years. Holes cut up to 119 metres of kimberlite, it comes to surface under lake sediment, and a 115.2 kilogram sample yielded a 0.28 carat diamond.
28 May 2019resource reserve update● Neutral
Filed the technical report behind the April Faraday 2 increase, effective 24 April 2019. It also restates the neighbouring resources: 1.90 million carats inferred at the Faraday 1-3 complex and 13.62 million carats indicated at Kelvin.
11 Apr 2019resource reserve update▲ GoodMajor
The Faraday 2 resource grew 74% to 5.45 million carats in 2.07 million tonnes, a grade of 2.63 carats per tonne against 2.24 before, after the north-west extension found in 2017 was included. The bigger change was value: US$140 a carat against US$112, on revised stone size distribution modelling - well above the roughly US$60 to US$85 a carat Gahcho Kué itself was fetching at tender.
27 Feb 2019drilling progress report● Neutral
Started a 2,000-metre winter drilling program on the 67,164-hectare Kennady North ground, testing targets west and south-west of the Hearne pipe. The targets came out of a new consolidated database that included proprietary data leased from GGL Resources for a one-off cash payment, glacial till sampling and a LIDAR survey.
19 Sept 2018drilling progress report▲ GoodMajor
Further drilling found kimberlite in the corridor between the 5034 and Tuzo pits with true thicknesses up to 72 metres, and confirmed the Curie gravity target as kimberlite up to 52 metres thick starting only 18 metres below surface. None of this ground is in the current resource and its full extent is not yet known.
10 Sept 2018production update● Neutral
The seventh sale of 2018 raised US$26.9 million from 411,317 carats at US$65 a carat, with the company noting single-digit price falls across the rough diamond market that hit smaller and lower-quality goods while stones above 10.8 carats held up. Stuart Brown had taken over as president and chief executive from interim head David Whittle.
16 Aug 2018production update● Neutral
The sixth sale of 2018 brought US$22.2 million for 334,751 carats at US$66 a carat, down from US$85 because there were far fewer large and coloured stones on offer and small goods softened. Separately the company won the bid for the latest parcel of specials, which contained stones of 91, 83, 58 and 45 carats, and July production set records at 299,150 tonnes for 709,106 carats, a grade of about 2.37 carats per tonne.
9 Aug 2018dividend declaration▲ GoodMajor
Declared its first ever dividend, 4 Canadian cents a share, on the back of $18.5 million of mine earnings in the quarter and $73.3 million of adjusted profit before interest, tax and depreciation in the half. The mine treated 1.68 million tonnes in the half for 3.57 million carats on a 100% basis, a recovered grade of 2.12 carats per tonne, ahead of plan. A $6.3 million quarterly net loss came mostly from a $7.7 million unrealised currency loss on the US dollar notes.
12 July 2018drilling progress report▲ Good
Drilling around the mine confirmed the north and south lobes of the Hearne pipe are joined by a kimberlite breccia running from 40 metres depth to at least 220 metres, with true intercepts of 27 to 41 metres in two of six holes; the other four hit nothing. Work continued on the 5034-to-Tuzo corridor and the Curie gravity target.
29 June 2018production update▲ Good
The fifth sale of 2018 beat the record again at US$30.3 million for 356,000 carats, US$85 a carat and US$86 normalised, and included the highest-value single diamond the company had sold and the best attributed value per tonne to date.
