RE:RE:BIG PICTURE Mountain Province Names New CEO Jun 11, 2017 5:39 AM By Rapaport News RAPAPORT... Mountain Province Diamonds has appointed David Whittle as interim CEO to replace Patrick Evans, who has stepped down, the miner announced Thursday. Evans (pictured), who had been CEO of Mountain Province for 11 years, will continue as a director and help the company during a transitional period, the company added. Whittle is currently lead outside director and has 25 years experience as a mining executive. He has been a director of Mountain Province since 1997 and was formerly president of its joint-venture partner, Glenmore Highlands, with which the company merged in 2000. Mountain Provinces stock dived 11% in early trading Friday, before recovering to 4% below the previous days closing price. Its share price has drifted downward for the last eight months, with the latest figure 43% lower than its September 23 peak. Initial sales from the companys Gahcho Ku mine in Canada, which opened in September, yielded weaker prices than the miner had expected, due to Indian demonetization and a large proportion of fluorescent diamonds. Mountain Province owns 49% of Gahcho Ku in partnership with De Beers, which operates the mine.