DIAMONDS: Mountain Province offered $370M loan for Gahcho Ku

NORTHWEST TERRITORIES – Vancouver's Mountain Province Diamonds has been approved for a US$370-million term loan facility for continuing work at the Gahcho Kué diamond project near Lac des Gras. (De Beers Canada is the 51% owner and operator of the project.)

The consortium offering the loan is lead by the Bank of Nova Scotia and includes Natixis SA and Nedbank. Finalization of the facility is subjects to certain conditions, and drawdown will only begin after the arrangement of a cost overrun provision.

Major construction at Gahcho Kué began in December 2014 with production scheduled to begin in Q3 2016. There are 55.5 million ct of diamonds in three major kimberlites (5034, Hearne and Tuzo), and those carats are contained in probable reserves totaling 35.4 million tonnes at 157 cpht. Total pre-production capital expenditures may be as much as $1.02 billion, including a contingency of $75.6 million. Output will average 4.5 million ct per year over a 12-year life of the open pit.

The feasibility study may be read at MountainProvince.com.