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by Will Purcell

The diamond and specialty minerals stocks box score on Monday was a so-so 72-82-156 as the TSX Venture Exchange fell one point to 789. Dermot Desmond and Mark Wall's Mountain Province Diamonds Inc. (MPVD) closed unchanged at five cents on 20,000 shares today, continuing a bleak market performance for what is arguably Canada's last domestic diamond miner. Yes, Ekati is still operating, but it is now owned by Australia-based Burgundy Diamond Mines Ltd., and yes, Lucara Diamond Corp. (LUC: $0.2075) is Canadian-listed, but its producing mine is in Botswana.

As Mountain Province revealed last week, its second quarter was a particularly bleak affair. Slumping rough diamond prices paired with a lower-than-expected production grade from the company's 49-per-cent-owned Gahcho Kue mine in the Northwest Territories yielded revenue far below what is needed to support it continuing as a going concern without new cash transfusions. Fortunately, the company is connected by a fast drip intravenous line to the bank account of Mr. Desmond, the company's major shareholder, who has supported the company with timely loans in the past.

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