Canadian diamond miner Mountain Province has seen confidence among rough diamond buyers return, spurring hope that a rebound is taking hold in an industry that has been crippled by the global pandemic.

“The first sale of the year was excellent,” said CEO Stuart Brown. “The growing confidence among rough diamond buyers translated into a healthy price improvement of 8% on a like-for-like basis when compared to our record high volume December sale.”

Mountain Province has netted C$278-million, an average of C$115/ct in its first sale of 2021, with 241 827 ct going up for sale in Belgium.