Drill contract concluded
Shares Issued and Outstanding: 80,715,558
TSX: MPV
NYSE MKT: MDM
TORONTO AND NEW YORK, June 13, 2012 /PRNewswire/ - Mountain Province Diamonds
Inc. ("Mountain Province", the "Company") (TSX: MPV, NYSE MKT: MDM) is
pleased to announce that the Company's wholly-owned subsidiary, Kennady
Diamonds Inc. ("Kennady Diamonds"), has received a Type A Land Use
Permit from the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board in respect of the
Kennady North diamond project.
"Receipt of the Land Use Permit clears the way for us to commence the
summer drill program at Kennady North", said Mountain Province
President and CEO Patrick Evans. "We have retained Yellowknife-based
Northtech Drilling Ltd. to conduct a minimum 2,500 meter drill program,
which will commence immediately", Mr. Evans added.
Plans are in place for two drill rigs to be mobilized to Kennady North
with the first rig focussed on in-fill drilling along the Kelvin -
Faraday kimberlite corridor, where a number of high priority drill
targets have been identified. The diamondiferous Kelvin, Hobbes and
Faraday kimberlites, located approximately 10 kilometers from the De
Beers JV at Gahcho Kué, were discovered in the early 2000's. The second
drill rig will test approximately twelve newly discovered kimberlite
targets that are accessible during summer. The remainder of the high
priority targets will be tested during a second phase winter drill
program which will be conducted in early 2013.
Patrick Evans commented: "Our priority at Kennady North is to define a
resource along the Kelvin - Faraday kimberlite corridor. The close
proximity of these kimberlites to the Gahcho Kué mine, currently being
permitted with JV partner De Beers, raises the potential for them to
add to the projected mine life. We will also be testing a number of
newly discovered high priority geophysical targets that correspond with
unexplained kimberlite mineral trains not associated with the known
kimberlites at Kennady North. We are very excited about the Kennady
North exploration program and are also keen to commence drilling of the
newly discovered geophysical targets at the De Beers JV."
Final analysis of the data from the Fugro airborne gravity gradiometry
(AGG) survey over the De Beers JV leases resulted in the identification
of 55 geophysical targets of which 23 are interpreted as high priority.
The JV partners are expected to announce a follow-up exploration
program in the near future.
As announced last Monday, June 11, 2012, Mountain Province has also
received conditional approval from the TSX-Venture Exchange for the
listing of Kennady Diamonds, which is being sought as part of the
previously announced plan of arrangement ("the Arrangement"), pursuant
to which the Company will transfer the wholly-owned Kennady North
project, to Kennady Diamonds.
Upon completion of the Arrangement, Mountain Province will also transfer
working capital in the amount of C$3M to Kennady Diamond and will
distribute 100 percent of the shares of Kennady Diamonds to Mountain
Province shareholders on the basis of one Kennady Diamond share for
every five shares of Mountain Province held by shareholders on the
record date. The record date, which will likely be before the end of
June, 2012, will be the date established for the purposes of
determining the Mountain Province shareholders entitled to receive the
distribution of Kennady Diamonds' shares. A further announcement in
this regard is expected shortly.
About Kennady North
The Kennady North project comprises thirteen leases and claims located
to the west and north of the four leases controlled by the Gahcho Kué
Joint Venture between De Beers Canada Inc. (51%) and Mountain Province
(49%) located in Canada's Northwest Territories.
Exploration at Kennady North commenced in the late 1990's and resulted
in the discovery of the diamondiferous Kelvin, Faraday and Hobbes
kimberlites. The number of diamonds recovered from these kimberlites
and the size-frequency distribution indicate that they may be of
comparable grade to the 5034 (1.77 carats per tonne) and Hearne (2.10
carats per tonne) kimberlites at the De Beers JV. Exploration samples
from Kelvin and Faraday returned a relatively large number of macro
diamonds with the two largest being a 0.4 carat diamond from Faraday
and a 0.09 carat diamond from Kelvin.
The known kimberlites at Kennady North do not explain all the
kimberlitic indicators previously recovered from glacial till sampling.
Exploration at Kennady North was suspended in 2004 when Mountain
Province focused the Company's attention on the Gahcho Kué
pre-feasibility and feasibility studies.
Exploration at Kennady North recommenced during 2011 with a 50-meter
line-spacing airborne gravity gradiometry (AGG) survey over the entire
123.6 square kilometer project area. The survey identified 106
geophysical targets. The Company recently completed a
560-line-kilometre total magnetic field (MAG) ground survey over all
106 geophysical targets identified by the AGG survey. The 39 high
priority targets identified through the AGG and MAG surveys will be
drilled as part of an upcoming summer drill program (approximately 20
drill targets) and 2013 winter drill program (approximately 20 drill
targets).
Mountain Province Diamonds is a 49% participant with De Beers Canada in the Gahcho Kué JV located
at Kennady Lake in Canada's Northwest Territories. The Gahcho Kué
Project consists of a cluster of four diamondiferous kimberlites, three
of which have a probable mineral reserve of 31.3 million tonnes grading
1.57 carats per tonne for total diamond content of 49 million carats.
Gahcho Kué is the world's largest and highest grade new diamond
development project. A December 2010 feasibility study filed by
Mountain Province (available on SEDAR) indicates that the Gahcho Kué
project has an IRR of 33.9%.
Qualified Person
This news release has been prepared under the supervision of Carl G.
Verley, P.Geo., who serves as the qualified person under National
Instrument 43-101.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release may contain forward-looking statements, within the
meaning of the "safe-harbor" provision of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995, regarding the Company's business or
financial condition. Actual results could differ materially from those
described in this news release as a result of numerous factors, some of
which are outside the control of the Company.
SOURCE Mountain Province Diamonds Inc.
