Rio Tinto pushing Diavik project from London
Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services
Yellowknife (Dec 01/00) - Diavik's race to meet last year's ice road deadline was being run abroad as well as in Yellowknife.
A series of letters obtained by an access to information request by Kevin O'Reilly, research director of the Canadian Arctic Resources Committee, reveal senior Rio Tinto managers lobbied the the Canadian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom for help getting Diavik's land lease and water licence applications approved.
The seven letters were penned by Rio Tinto director of industrial minerals Gordon Sage. London-based Rio Tinto is one of the world's biggest mining companies. Diavik Diamond Mines Inc., 60 per cent owner of the Diavik diamond project, is a subsidiary of Rio Tinto.
Most of the letters brief High Commissioner to London Roy MacLaren on the situation Diavik Diamond Mines Inc. was facing in getting approvals for the project. Several were follow-ups to conversations between Sage and MacLaren.
The correspondence begins shortly after the Jan. 20 announcement by Indian Affairs and Northern Development Minister Robert Nault that the project would not proceed until an environmental agreement was signed.
The effect of the announcement was immediate. Diavik pulled workers from the mine site. The business community reacted with outrage, as did then City of Yellowknife Mayor Dave Lovell.
Premier Stephen Kakfwi and environmental groups applauded the announcement.
In a Jan. 26 letter to MacLaren, Sage warns of the "serious implications" of Nault's decision and the need for "urgent action."
In an attached summary of the situation, Sage noted, "Unless this latest DIAND objection is overcome very soon, the project will in practice be denied access to the road for a full season ... The inevitable consequence will be suspension of work and the laying off of more than 100 workers."
The environmental monitoring agreement was signed March 8.
Sage also noted DDMI had to contend with an ever-changing environmental assessment process. The comprehensive study review took 578 days. A panel review, which environmental organizations had argued for, would have taken less than 400, wrote Sage.
In a March 31 letter, Sage also tried to get commission official Tom MacDonald's support to avoid another land lease time crunch, this time having to do with getting the leases before the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act takes effect.
Sage said if the leases were not issued before March 31, there was a chance that the Mackenzie Valley board would send the project through another environmental assessment.
The land leases were issued March 29, in time for Diavik to ship materials and equipment it needed for the 2000 construction season up the winter road and avoid having to apply for new leases under the MVRMA.
