(IDEX Online) - Mountain Province Diamonds reported a 40 per cent drop in Q2 rough sales, down from $74.5m to $44.6m.It said the figures were skewed because it held three sales in the previous quarter, rather the normal two.The number of carats sold from its Gahcho Kue mine, in Northwest Territories, Canada, was down 38.5 per cent, from 586,567 in Q2 2022 to 360,308. Average per carat price slipped from $129 to $124."Relative to Q2 2022, average price per carat in Q2 2023 benefitted from a coarser than average mix of goods sold, offsetting a softening in the market," the company said. "We expect a finer mix of goods sold in Q3 2023."The Toronto-based miner, a 49 per cent joint venture partner with De Beers, said a total of 1,339,196 carats were recovered during the quarter.It mined far fewer tonnes of ore than in Q2 2022, and now expects the annual total to be 3.0m to 3.6m tonnes, rather than the original forecast of 4.1m to 4.5m.Mark Wall, Mountain Province's president, and CEO said: "Q2 2023 saw quarter-on-quarter operational improvements across most operating metrics at site."While I am pleased to see this incremental improvement, there remains much work to be done to ensure that we are able to achieve planned mining and processing rates in a more sustainable way. "We are working together with our JV partner to allow for more predictable outcomes."Pic shows the processing plant at Gahcho Kue