Mine construction under way
Sarah Holland
Northern News Services
Yellowknife (Mar 07/01) - On a lonely island in the vast Barren Lands lies a $1.3 billion work in progress.
The Diavik diamond mine, located 300 kilometres north of Yellowknife at Lac de Gras, is officially under construction.
From the air, stacks of supplies and heavy equipment can be seen scattered alongside the gravel access road.
Site preparation began in early 2000, with nearly 1,000 truckloads of fuel and supplies hauled up the winter ice road.
It is estimated that 4,200 truckloads will be carried to the site in 2001.
To date, fuel tanks have been installed, a quarry and crushing facility have been prepared, and access roads, a temporary construction camp, maintenance shops, sewer treatment facility, waste transfer station and 1,600 metres of the airstrip have been built. The strip will be 2,000 metres long when complete.
"Construction is on schedule," said Tom Hoefer, manager, public and government affairs. "The ice road was behind due to weather conditions -- high snowfall and warmer temperatures."
The ice road is now at full capacity, said Hoefer.
The next big project is the construction of the first dike, slated to be finished in 2002.
Currently 420 employees are at the site at any given time, while an estimated 675 workers will be employed when production begins.
Of those, 275 will be Northerners with that number expected to rise as more people are trained.
An environmental assessment of the area began in 1994.
The studies looked at vegetation and terrain, fish and water, wildlife, air quality, heritage resources and socio-economic conditions.
One of the studies was on habitat utilization and fish. A number of trout were radio-collared and slimy sculpin were collected to assess habitat use around the mine development area.
Since the Bathurst caribou herd moves through the area during the summer, a caribou monitoring system has been set up. There are even changeable caribou traffic advisory signs along the roads.
More information on the environmental assessment, and the entire project, is available on Diavik's Web site, www.diavik.ca.
The Diavik Diamond Project is a joint venture between Diavik Diamond Mines Inc. (60 per cent share) and Aber Diamond Mines Ltd. (40 per cent share).
Mining of the four kimberlite pipes is scheduled to begin in the first half of 2003 and the mine life is estimated at 20 years.
