Mr. Mark Wall reports

MOUNTAIN PROVINCE DIAMONDS ANNOUNCES THIRD QUARTER 2023 OPERATING AND SALES RESULTS, DETAILS OF THIRD QUARTER 2023 EARNINGS RELEASE AND CONFERENCE CALL

Mountain Province Diamonds Inc. has released its operating and sales results for the third quarter ended Sept. 30, 2023, from the Gahcho Kue diamond mine (GK mine). Additionally, the company has provided details of its third quarter 2023 earnings release and conference call. All figures are expressed in Canadian dollars unless otherwise noted.

Operational highlights for third quarter 2023

(all figures reported on a 100-per-cent basis unless otherwise stated)

• 877,617 ore tonnes treated, an 8-per-cent increase relative to Q3 2022 (Q3 2022: 816,201 tonnes treated);
• 1,326,160 carats recovered, 9 per cent lower than the comparable quarter (Q3 2022: 1,451,455 carats);
• Average grade of 1.51 carats per tonne, a 15-per-cent decrease relative to Q3 2022 (1.78 carats per tonne);
• 887,695 ore tonnes mined, a 34-per-cent decrease relative to last year's comparable quarter (Q3 2022: 1,345,654 ore tonnes mined).

Sales highlights for third quarter 2023

During the third quarter, 478,653 carats were sold for total proceeds of $60.3-million ($45.3-million (U.S.)), resulting in an average price of $126 per carat ($95 (U.S.) per carat). These results compare with Q3 2022 where 805,227 carats were sold for total proceeds of $110.6-million ($83.3-million (U.S.)), resulting in an average value of $137 per carat ($103 (U.S.) per carat).

The relative reduction in volume sold in Q3 2023 reflects the company's decision to strategically stock a subset of the lower value goods available for sale in order to defend its prices in the rough market. The company expects to sell the goods stocked in the company's planned December sale.

The diamond market is experiencing very low levels of demand since returning from the August holiday period. Macroeconomic concerns and delays to post-COVID restocking of diamond jewellery in China have motivated diamond polishers to adopt conservative rough diamond buying and reduce polished inventories. This includes a temporary measure tabled by the Indian cutting and jewellery trade to voluntarily reduce rough imports into the country.

Mark Wall, the company's president and chief executive officer, commented:

"Following the mid-June five-day plant shutdown, plant stability has increased greatly allowing for improved throughput relative to performance earlier in 2023. We continue to monitor this improvement closely in order to ensure this level of performance is maintained going forward.

"During quarter three we saw the devastating wildfires in British Columbia and the Northwest Territories in Canada. The decision by the Northwest Territories to evacuate many remote communities, in addition to the territorial capital Yellowknife, created labour pressure on site as workers needed to support their families in evacuation, or were unable to return to work.

"Despite these challenges, the team at site maintained operations and production during this period, although we did see a reduction in equipment utilization numbers due to work force constraints, particularly in the mining area. Additionally, delays to mining the higher-grade ore in the 5034 pit persisted during the quarter, caused by the previously reported safety issues related to the interactive nature of the mining of the Tuzo and 5034 pits simultaneously. Access is being re-established to the 5034 pit bottom to recommence mining in that area.

"On the rough diamond market, there has been much reported in various news outlets, including the import restrictions in India, which have further impacted the market during a weak period. The company took the decision to withhold some of the sales during quarter three to defend its prices in the rough market. We continue to watch the diamond market closely to assess market conditions. In these very challenging markets we have decided, to pause all discretionary spending to focus on maximizing cash generation and repaying the debt.

"As reported last quarter our 2023 guidance remains unchanged. Production is trending to the lower end of the range and production costs trending to the mid/upper end of the range."

Earnings release and conference call details

The company will host its quarterly conference call on Friday, Nov. 10, 2023, at 11 a.m. ET. Prior to the conference call, the company will release Q3 2023 financial results on Nov. 9, 2023 after market.

Conference call dial-in details:

Title:  Mountain Province Diamonds Inc. Q3 2023 earnings conference call

Conference ID:  47510442

Date of call:  Nov. 10, 2023

Time of call:  11 a.m. Eastern Time

Expected duration:  60 minutes

Participant toll-free dial-in number:   1-888-390-0546

Participant international dial-in number:  1-416-764-8688

A replay of the webcast and audio call will be available on the company's website.

About Mountain Province Diamonds Inc.

Mountain Province is a 49-per-cent participant with De Beers Canada in the Gahcho Kue diamond mine, located in Canada's Northwest Territories. The Gahcho Kue joint venture property consists of several kimberlites that are actively being mined, developed and explored for future development. The company also controls more than 113,000 hectares of highly prospective mineral claims and leases surrounding the Gahcho Kue mine, including an indicated mineral resource for the Kelvin kimberlite and inferred mineral resources for the Faraday kimberlites. Kelvin was estimated to contain 13.62 million carats in 8.50 million tonnes at a grade of 1.60 carats per tonne and value of $63 (U.S.) per carat, at February, 2019. Faraday 2 was estimated to contain 5.45 million carats in 2.07 million tonnes at a grade of 2.63 carats per tonne and value of $140 (U.S.) per carat, at February, 2019. Faraday 1-3 was estimated to contain 1.90 million carats in 1.87 million tonnes at a grade of 1.04 carats per tonne and value of $75 (U.S.) per carat, at February, 2019. All resource estimations are based on a one-millimetre-diamond-size bottom cut-off.

Qualified persons

The disclosure in this news release of scientific and technical information regarding Mountain Province's mineral properties has been reviewed and approved by Matthew MacPhail, PEng, MBA, and Tom E. McCandless, PhD, PGeo, both employees of Mountain Province and qualified persons as defined by National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

We seek Safe Harbor.