martinamerica
13 years ago
Mountain Province property spin-out cleans up firm for potential takeover
By: Matthew Hill 13th January 2012
TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Mountain Province Diamonds said on Thursday it will unbundle the properties it owns around its joint venture with De Beers in Canada’s Northwest Territories, which could make it easier for the Anglo American unit to buy the TSX-quoted firm.
CEO Patrick Evans told Mining Weekly Online the move would simplify negotiations with a potential acquirer when the junior decides to re-engage suitors, most likely after February.
The company had been in takeover talks with “a number of parties” up until August, when it decided to call them off, saying a buyout would be premature as Mountain Province had done too little exploration work to value the diamond tenements it owns around the Gahcho Kué joint venture with De Beers.
Evans said spinning off these properties into a separate company would help solve the valuation problem, along with carrying out further exploration.
Asked how much the spun out company, to be called Kennady Diamonds, might be worth, he pointed to the fact that Mountain Province’s share price had climbed by 9.4%, or C$0.39, in the wake of the announcement.
That value multiplied by the 80-million shares Mountain Province has outstanding gives a figure of around C$31-million.
“That’s not a scientific way but it’s probably not a bad starting point,” Evans said. It should also be noted that less than 25 000 shares changed hands on Thursday.
Salman Partners analyst Raymond Goldie said he attributed no value to the exploration properties at this stage.
Speaking in a telephone interview, he said the unbundling “should make it easy for Mountain Province itself to get taken over”, most likely by De Beers.
The Oppenheimer family last year said it agreed to sell its 40% stake in the diamond giant to Anglo American for $5.1-billion in November. Shareholders in Anglo, which already had a 45% ownership of De Beers, this month voted in favour of the deal.
While Evans won’t name the companies Mountain Province had been in takeover talks with last year, he said that Anglo American was well acquainted with Gahcho Kué, as its technical team had “essentially” taken over from De Beers after the partners completed a feasibility study in October 2010.
“For us, the change in shareholding at De Beers with Anglo effectively having 85% hasn’t really influenced much at the project level,” Evans said.
He also hinted that Anglo would be keen to gain control of the joint venture, located nearby De Beers’ operating Snap Lake mine north of Yellowknife. De Beers owns 51% of the project, with Mountain Province owning the rest.
“There’s only one diamond development project of the scale and size that will interest Anglo, and that’s Gahcho Kue,” Evans said, pointing out that it is the largest and richest known undeveloped deposit globally.
He added that Mountain Province is still unready to re-enter takeover talks, but may do so after it completes drilling at its Tuzo Deep deposit by the end of February.
SPIN OUT
The company said in a statement it will distribute all the shares in the new company, Kennady Diamonds, to existing shareholders, and list the new firm on the TSX-V. Shareholders will vote on the deal in April.
Kennady Diamonds will include thirteen leases and claims located to the west and north of the four leases the Gahcho Kué joint venture owns.
There are already three known diamondiferous, or diamond-bearing, kimberlites pipes on the properties, and Mountain Province completed an airborne gravity radiometry survey over the properties in 2011.
Evans said the parent company would likely inject around C$2-million into the unbundled firm to fund exploration in 2012.
martinamerica
13 years ago
SPINOUT! Mountain Province Diamonds Inc. ("Mountain Province", the "Company") (TSX: MPV, NYSE-AMEX: MDM) is pleased to announce that its Board of Directors has approved a proposal to spin-out the Company's 100 percent-controlled Kennady North diamond project into a newly incorporated company, Kennady Diamonds Inc.
Patrick Evans , President and CEO, commented: "The proposed spin-out of Kennady North is intended to deliver greater value to Mountain Province shareholders by unlocking the value of this highly prospective diamond project. The transaction will also enable Mountain Province to focus on its flagship Gahcho Kué Project while Kennady Diamonds focuses on advancing the 123 square-kilometer Kennady North Project."
The proposed spin-out will occur through a plan of arrangement (the "Arrangement") and will be subject to regulatory and court approval, as well as shareholder approval at a special meeting currently planned for April, 2012.
Upon completion of the Arrangement and the proposed listing of Kennady Diamonds on the TSX Venture Exchange ("TSXV"), the Company intends to distribute 100 percent of the shares of Kennady Diamonds to Mountain Province shareholders on a pro rata basis. Mountain Province will also provide Kennady Diamonds with sufficient working capital to fund the planned exploration activities for 2012.
Additional details of the spin-out and the time and place for the special meeting will be announced as soon as all the commercial, legal and procedural formalities are finalized.
About Kennady Diamonds
The Kennady Diamonds 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%).
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 Gahcho Kué 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 survey over the entire 123.6 square kilometer project area. The survey has identified 29 high priority geophysical targets many of which will be the subject of follow-up drilling during 2012.
martinamerica
13 years ago
Sweet News Merry Christmas
..Mountain Province Diamonds Announces Results of Kennady North Airborne Gravity Survey
2 hours 28 minutes ago
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Share0EmailPrint.....Companies:...Mountain Province Diamonds Inc.Mountain Province Diamonds, Inc. . ...RELATED QUOTES.
.Symbol Price Change
MDM 3.90 +0.10
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Company Considers Potential Spinout of Kennady North Project
Shares Issued and Outstanding: 80,345,558
TSX: MPV
NYSE- AMEX: MDM
TORONTO AND NEW YORK, Dec. 22, 2011 /CNW/ - Mountain Province Diamonds Inc. ("Mountain Province", the "Company") (TSX: MPV, NYSE-AMEX: MDM) is pleased to announce that analysis of the final results of the Falcon airborne gravity gradiometry (AGG) survey over the Company's 100%-controlled Kennady North Project has identified over 70 geophysical targets of which 29 are considered high priority and closely resemble the known kimberlites in the Kennady Lake area. The AGG survey was flown by Fugro Airborne Surveys. On-site quality control and interpretation of the data was done by independent consultant Mr. Kit Campbell, P. Geoph., of Intrepid Geophysics, Vancouver B.C.
Located within the diamond fields of Canada's Northwest Territories, the Kennady North Project encompasses thirteen leases and claims contiguous to the Company's 49%-controlled Gahcho Kué Project held in joint venture with De Beers Canada. Past exploration at Kennady North led to the discovery of the diamondiferous Faraday, Kelvin and Hobbes kimberlites. Drilling of these kimberlites returned excellent micro-diamond counts with a size frequency distribution very similar to the highly diamondiferous Gahcho Kué kimberlites, which have a fully diluted reserve grade of 1.57 carats per tonne.
Commenting, Mountain Province President and CEO Patrick Evans said: "We are very excited about the large number of high priority geophysical targets that have been identified at Kennady North. Besides the excellent micro-diamond counts and size frequency distribution from the known kimberlites, a 0.40 carat diamond was recovered from a 65 kilogram sample taken from Faraday and the samples recovered from Faraday also exhibit an unusually high percentage of yellow diamonds. This is very encouraging."
Mr. Evans added: "As soon as we've secured a land use permit for Kennady North, we intend following up with ground-truthing of the high priority targets in preparation for drilling next year. Mountain Province has retained Aurora Geosciences Ltd. based in Yellowknife, NWT, to manage the Kennady North exploration program."
The results of the AGG survey flown over the Gahcho Kué Project will be announced once the Joint Venture has completed an analysis of the final report.
Potential Spinout of Kennady North Project
Mountain Province is also pleased to announce that the Company is currently giving consideration to the potential spinout of the Kennady North Project into a newly-listed public company. A final decision on the potential spinout will be taken with a view to the best interests of shareholders in Mountain Province and a study of mechanisms for the potential spinout.
Patrick Evans commented: "The potential reorganization of the Company into two separate public companies would enable Mountain Province to focus on its flagship Gahcho Kué Project while Kennady Diamonds could focus on advancing of the highly prospective Kennady North Project. Shareholders will be kept informed of any proposals advanced in terms of the possible spinout."
martinamerica
13 years ago
TORONTO AND NEW YORK, Aug. 24, 2011 /CNW/ - Mountain Province Diamonds Inc. ("Mountain Province", the "Company") (TSX: MPV, NYSE-AMEX: MDM) today announced that after receiving unsolicited expressions of interest from third parties the Company has decided to cease discussions and other engagement with those third parties in order to focus management's attention on the following key activities: the permitting of the Gahcho Kué Project, arranging Mountain Province's share of the financing for the first mine at Gahcho Kué, advancing the Tuzo Deep drill program at Gahcho Kué and exploration at the Company's 100% controlled Kennady North project .
Commenting, Mountain Province President and CEO, Patrick Evans, said: "Gahcho Kué is the world's largest and highest grade diamond development project, located in the world's most stable diamond producing region, so it's inevitable that we've attracted the interest of other participants in the diamond industry. While the Board has welcomed third party interest in Mountain Province, the Company is currently focused on advancing the permitting and financing for the first mine at Kennady Lake, two activities that require the full attention of management. Also, our two major exploration programs at Kennady Lake - the planned Kennady North airborne gravity survey and the Tuzo Deep drill program - both have the potential to add significantly to Gahcho Kué's current 49 million carat reserve. Under the circumstances, the Board is of the view that further engagement with third parties might be premature before the results of these exploration programs have been announced."
Mountain Province recently announced that the Gahcho Kué Environmental Impact Review Panel ("Panel") has declared that the 11,000-page Gahcho Kué Environmental Impact Statement conforms to the rigorous terms of reference set by the Panel, which clears the way for the commencement of the environmental review. Mr. Evans added: "The environmental review is a period of intense engagement that requires the full attention of the Gahcho Kué JV partners to ensure its successful conclusion".
Mountain Province is also pleased to announce that following the approval by the JV partners of the definitive feasibility study the Company has been approached by one of Canada's major commercial banks proposing to lead the arrangement of a project finance facility for Mountain Province's share of the construction costs for the first mine at Gahcho Kué. Discussions relating to this are continuing and the Company expects to make a further announcement in due course.
The first phase of the Tuzo Deep drill program, which is designed to test the depth extension of the Tuzo kimberlite pipe located on the Gahcho Kué JV property, is also set to commence during the current third quarter of 2011. Based on the success of this first phase drill program, the JV partners will plan a second phase infill drill program to commence in early 2012.
Exploration at the Kennady North Project, which is located immediately to the west and north of the Gahcho Kué JV property at Kennady Lake, is set to resume with a planned 50-meter line-spacing airborne gravity survey. The airborne gravity survey will also be flown over the four leases of the Gahcho Kué JV. Subject to favourable weather conditions, the airborne gravity survey is expected to be commence during the current third quarter of 2011.
martinamerica
14 years ago
John Kaiser's recent report
"...A careful read of Mountain Province's August 4 news release will reveal that the actual values of the Gahcho Kue bulk sample parcels are substantially higher than the modelled values which is due to several large very high value stones whose presence cannot be quantified in the value modelling conducted by De Beers and WWW. So unless these diamonds are super freaks not likely to be found again, the modelled valuations for Gahcho Kue which follow statistical methods likely understate what will be the value of commercial production. This is in contrast to most bulk sample parcels such as those of Shore Gold's Fort a la Corne project where the actual parcel values are well below the modelled values Shore Gold uses in its prefeasibility study. Patrick Evans points out that other large diamonds are present, and, understandably, does not mention than the bulk sampling of Diavik never produced anything like the larger Gahcho Kue stones. So when Bob Gannicott dismisses Mountain Province as too expensive, even as he tries to defend the continued ownership of the Harry Winston retail division which would be legitimized by a supply of large, high value Gahcho Kue diamonds, he is doing what any good
CEO should do to further his company's interest, namely denigrate a potential acquisition target. If Harrry Winston did absorb Mountain Province, it will likely not have the problem it has with Rio Tinto at Diavik where Rio Tinto always outbids Harry Winston for the specials because it controls downstream supply channels. De Beers still operates as a wholesaler through its "supplier of choice" system, and would never bid a price for a special that represents some of the value added by being able to accompany a diamond from mine to retail market. If Mountain Province and De Beers adopt a system for dividing the specials similar to what Rio Tinto and Harry Winston have at Diavik with which the Canadian government seems to be happy for tax purposes, a Mountain Province owned by Harry Winston would be in a position to scoop the specials for its downstream benefit. And that would be one more reason for De Beers to take out Mountain Province and end up with 100% of Gahcho Kue. Bottom-fishers and spec value hunters should continue to hold their positions for a price target range of $4-$6 which is now near term. "
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With the recent pull back ($3.89 5 days ago and now $3.35) I'd say a good time for those who want in (or want to add) to pick up some shares. I think the share price is heading to $5 in the short term and way higher in the mid to long term.
martinamerica
14 years ago
Just the beginning.
Mountain Province Diamonds Announces Results of Independent
Valuation of Gahcho Kué Diamonds
TORONTO and NEW YORK, Aug 04, 2010 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Mountain Province Diamonds Inc. ("Mountain Province", the "Company") /quotes/comstock/11t!e:mpv (CA:MPV 3.40, +0.18, +5.59%) today announced the results of an updated independent valuation of the diamonds recovered from the Gahcho Kué Project during the exploration phase. The valuation was conducted by WWW International Diamond Consultants Ltd. and took place at the London offices of the Diamond Trading Company in early April, 2010. All diamond values presented below are based on the WWW Price Book as at 13 April, 2010.
Commenting, Mountain Province President and CEO, Patrick Evans, said: "We are pleased with the results of this independent diamond valuation, which reflect a statistically robust sample and rising rough diamond prices since the onset of the credit crises."
Table 1 below reflects the actual price per carat for the parcel of 8,243.56 carats of diamonds recovered from the Gahcho Kué Project.
Table 1
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Actual Price US$/carat
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pipe Zone Total Carats $/Carat Total Dollars
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
5034 Centre Lobe 633.80 80.23 50,852
West Lobe 1,119.40 79.63 89,134
East Lobe 1,264.21 178.59 225,770
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
5034 Total 3,017.41 121.22 365,757
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hearne 2,906.45 60.44 175,654
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Tuzo 2,319.70 243.03 563,750
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total 8,243.56 134.06 1,105,161
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Table 2 below presents models of the average price per carat (US$/carat) for each kimberlite lithology. The modeled price per carat is determined using statistical methods to estimate the average value of diamonds that will be recovered from potential future production from Gahcho Kué.
Table 2
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Modeled Average Price US$/carat
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ 1.00mm +1.50mm
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pipe High Model Low High Model Low
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
5034 NE Lobe 131 107 96 143 116 104
5034 Centre 122 100 91 137 113 102
5034 West 141 114 103 157 127 114
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Tuzo 81 67 61 93 77 70
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hearne 82 68 62 93 78 71
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: 1.50mm prices provided for reference purposes only.
In their report to Mountain Province, WWW stated: "The Tuzo sample and the 5034 East sample both contained one high value large stone. For Tuzo there was a 25.14 carat stone valued at $17,000 per carat and 5034 East had a 9.90 carat stone valued at $15,000 per carat. It is encouraging that such high value stones were recovered in samples of this size. If they are found in the same frequency throughout the resource then the modelled APs (Average Prices') will certainly be towards the 'high' values."
Commenting further, Mr. Evans said: "Experience shows that during the mining phase larger populations of large, high value diamonds are commonly recovered, which has the potential to improve diamond revenues. Besides the high-value 25.14 and 9.9 carat diamonds referred to above, several other large high-value diamonds of gem quality have been recovered from Gahcho Kué, including 7.0 carat, 6.6 carat and 5.9 carat diamonds from the 5034 kimberlite and 8.7 carat, 6.4 carat and 4.9 carat diamonds from the Hearne kimberlite. The presence of coarser diamonds is an important driver of overall diamond value at Gahcho Kué."
Mountain Province is also pleased to announce that the Gahcho Kué independent definitive feasibility study remains on track for completion at the end of this month.
Located in Canada's Northwest Territories, Gahcho Kué is one of the largest new diamond projects under development globally. The project consists of a cluster of kimberlites, three of which have an indicated resource (1.00mm cut-off) of approximately 30.2 million tonnes grading at 1.67 carats per tonne (approximately 50.5 million carats) and an inferred resource (1.00mm cut-off) of approximately 6 million tonnes grading at 1.73 carats per tonne (approximately 10.3 million carats). Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.
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.
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ernie44
2 years ago
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