The Gahcho Kue diamond project, a joint venture between Mountain Province Diamonds and De Beers Canada, has attracted interest from a third party, Mountain Province announced Wednesday.

While the Mountain Province board "welcomes" the interest in the project – which currently consists of four diamondiferous kimberlites and contains total diamond resources of 49 million carats – the company has decided to stop discussions to focus on major development activity at Gahcho Kue and exploration at its 100%-owned Kennady North diamond project.

Mountain Province President and CEO Patrick Evans called Gahcho Kue the largest and highest-grade diamond development project in the world and said that it was "inevitable" that such an endeavor would attract interest in the diamond industry.