(IDEX Online) - Mountain Province reported a 20 per cent drop in total proceeds for FY 2022 after a "very challenging start to the year".
The Canadian miner sold fewer carats - down from 3.16m in 2021 to 2.66m - but average prices per carat were up a third from US$75 to US$112.
Q4 sales for 2022 were US$71.3m, up from US$67.5m for Q4 of 2021. In Q3 of 2022 sales hit $81m - the highest quarterly figure since the company was founded in 1986.
Sentiment in the rough diamond market remains resilient, the company said, despite some recent turbulence.
It expects strong diamond jewelry sales during the holidays and lower rough diamond supply volumes from the major producers are expected to maintain stable prices, at least in the short term.
"We now enter the 2023 cold weather and ice road resupply season with good momentum and a backdrop of a resilient rough diamond market," said Mark Wall, president and CEO.
Guidance for this year is 5.6 - 6.1 million carats recovered at a cost of of US$52 to US$60 per carat recovered.
Mountain Province is a 49 per cent participant with De Beers Canada in the Gahcho Ku?? (C) diamond mine in Northwest Territories.