The NWT’s Gahcho Kué mine has recovered its largest diamond to date, coming in at 157.4 carats.
Mountain Province Diamonds, 49-percent owner of the mine along with De Beers Group, announced the find in a news release. It says the “exceptional quality” gem will be made available for sale in early 2021.
“The recovery of the largest-ever diamond … was certainly a boost to the morale of the company,” Stuart Brown, the company’s president and chief executive, was quoted as saying.
“It shows that the mine, although a high-volume producer of predominantly smaller diamonds, does produce diamonds of exceptional size and quality.”
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The company says it has sold 956,348 carats of diamonds in the fourth quarter of 2020, earning $80.2 million at an average price of $83.82 per carat.
Many diamond companies, including Mountain Province, struggled to make sales during worldwide pandemic-related lockdowns earlier this year.
The company’s news release states it is “very encouraged” that prices in most sales categories during the fourth quarter were higher than before the pandemic hit.
“The diamond industry has faced immense challenges during 2020, so to end the year with such strong sales performance is very encouraging,” Brown stated.
