Mountain Province Diamonds Receives Regulatory Approval for $47 Million Rights Offering and Sets Record Date

TORONTO and NEW YORK, October 18, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Shares Issued and Outstanding: 80,715,558
TSX: MPV
NYSE MKT: MDM

- All dollar references are Canadian

Mountain Province Diamonds Inc. ("Mountain Province", the "Company") (TSX: MPV, NYSE MKT: MDM) today announced that the Company has received acceptance from the securities regulatory authorities in each of the Provinces of Canada, excluding Quebec, for its previously announced offering of rights to raise gross proceeds of approximately $47 million (the "Offering") and has fixed the record date in connection with the Offering.  An Offering circular containing full details of the Offering, as well as instructions on the exercise of Rights, will be mailed to shareholders on November 5, 2012.

Under the Offering, each registered holder of common shares of the Company (the "Shares") as of October 30, 2012 (the "Record Date") will receive one right (a "Right") for each Share held. Six (6) Rights plus the sum of C$3.50 are required to subscribe for one Share. The Rights will expire at 5:00 p.m. (Toronto time) on November 28, 2012 (the "Expiry Date"), after which unexercised Rights will be void and without value. The Rights will be listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Bottin (International) Investments Ltd. (controlled by Dermot Desmond) ("Bottin"), currently Mountain Province's largest shareholder, has advised the Company that it intends to fully exercise its Rights under the proposed offering. In addition, the Company has entered into a stand-by agreement with Bottin in terms of which Bottin has undertaken to fully subscribe for those Rights Shares not otherwise subscribed for on the Expiry Date.

Patrick Evans, Mountain Province President and CEO, commented: "We welcome the strong support from our major shareholder, Bottin, and are also gratified by the indications of strong support for the rights offering received from a significant number of institutional and retail shareholders."

To subscribe for Shares, a completed Rights certificate, together with payment in full of the Subscription Price for the Shares subscribed for, must be received by the subscription agent for the Offering, Computershare Investor Services Inc. before the Expiry Date of November 28, 2012.

The Rights offering circular (the "Circular"), which contains instructions on how to exercise the Rights, will be mailed following the Record Date to all eligible shareholders of record on the close of business on the Record Date.

This press release should be read together with, and is qualified in its entirety by the more detailed information contained in the Circular, which is available at http://www.sedar.com.

The Company intends to file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission a registration statement on Form F-7 covering the offering, and the distribution of Rights and commencement of the Offering will occur promptly following the effectiveness of that registration statement.

This news release is not an offer of securities for sale in the United States. The securities to be offered in the Offering described above may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration under the U.S. Securities Act, or an exemption from registration. Public offerings of securities in the United States will be made by means of a prospectus that may be obtained from the Company that will contain detailed information about the Company and management, as well as financial statements.

Mountain Province Diamonds is a 49% participant with De Beers Canada in the Gahcho Kué JV located at Kennady Lake in Canada's Northwest Territories. The Gahcho Kué Project consists of a cluster of four diamondiferous kimberlites, three of which have a probable mineral reserve of 31.3 million tonnes grading 1.57 carats per tonne for total diamond content of 49 million carats.

Gahcho Kué is the world's largest and richest new diamond development project. A December 2010 feasibility study filed by Mountain Province (available on SEDAR) indicates that the Gahcho Kué project has an IRR of 33.9%.

Qualified Person

This news release has been prepared under the supervision of Carl G. Verley, P.Geo., who serves as the qualified person under National Instrument 43-101.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release may contain forward-looking statements, within the meaning of the "safe-harbor" provision of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, regarding the Company's business or financial condition. Actual results could differ materially from those described in this news release as a result of numerous factors, some of which are outside the control of the Company.

For further information:
Mountain Province Diamonds Inc.
Patrick Evans, President and CEO
161 Bay Street, Suite 2315
Toronto, Ontario M5J 2S1
Phone: +1-(416)-361-3562

E-mail: info@mountainprovince.com

http://www.mountainprovince.com

SOURCE Mountain Province Diamonds Inc.