Mine to be operational in 2004
Doug Ashbury
Northern News Services
Yellowknife (Nov 29/00) - When it comes to turning the newest gem in its ring of diamond properties into a mine, De Beers chose a more conservative timeframe than the property's previous owner.
De Beers is looking at making the Snap Lake project an operating mine in early to mid-2004.
Winspear Resources, the previous owner, had suggested Snap Lake would be in full production in first quarter 2003, says John McConnell, De Beers Canada Mining vice-president project manager.
McConnell, who joined De Beers Canada from Winspear, spoke Friday at the 28th annual Geoscience Forum at the Explorer Hotel.
Tom Beardmore-Gray, senior vice-president, De Beers Canada Corp., adds De Beers has carried out a full technical review and "adjusted the timetable with 2004 reflecting "our view of the time it will take" to go to operational.
As well, the property will undergo another round of bulk sampling. Earlier this year, Winspear collected what was thought to be the last bulk sample -- 20,000 tonnes of ore which is currently stockpiled at the site awaiting processing. Next year, De Beers plans to bulk sample an undetermined amount of ore in 2001.
De Beers became Snap Lake majority owner and operator after recently acquiring Canadian junior resource company Winspear. Aber retains its minority stake in the Snap Lake property.
The Snap Lake diamond deposit, located 220 kilometres northeast of Yellowknife, is a tabular dike of kimberlite rock, as opposed to a carrot-shaped pipe structure.
Because the vast majority of the mining will be underground, as opposed to open pit, this project will have a "very small" footprint with "very little impact on the land," McConnell said.
And 60 per cent of mine tailings -- waste kimberlite -- will go back underground as a filler paste, he adds.
Garnet among kimberlite
McConnell said the year-2000 program will come in with a $45 million price-tag.
He added next year will also include feasibility study work with possible permitting by the end of third quarter 2002.
The De Beers time-line all but extinguishes any speculation about which property will be the NWT's second operating diamond mine after Ekati. Snap Lake will now likely be third to production after the Diavik property at Lac de Gras.
About 90 Geoscience Forum delegates packed a room at the Explorer Hotel for the Snap Lake presentation made by McConnell and chief geologist Melissa Kirkley.
Kirkley said the Snap Lake kimberlite dike is definitely different from other kimberlite dikes. Kimberlite dikes are routinely vertically-oriented disconnected lenses of rock, she said.
Snap Lake's kimberlite is "unlike anything I've ever seen," she said.
The Snap Lake dike is a horizontal body of rock. This suggests the earth's crust was under compression when the kimberlite was introduced. That means, the kimberlite likely took the path of least resistance and spread out sideways, or horizontally. If the crust was expanding, or being pulled apart, the kimberlite was more apt to shoot upward through the crust, forming lens-shaped deposits.
"The kimberlite itself is typical," she adds.
Among the kimberlite is at least one egg-sized garnet (garnet is a diamond indicator mineral).
"We're hoping the diamonds will do the same thing."
Samples taken at the deposit have returned larger diamonds, so-called specials. Last summer, the 3004-tonne sample yielded 5,542 carats. The largest stone recovered in that sample was 14.3 carats. Six were over 10.8 carats.
