Andrea Markey
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Oct 26/05) - Construction on the NWT's third diamond mine raced ahead over the summer and De Beers hopes to be producing Northern gems by mid-2008.

Approximately 2,000 loads of freight, as well as 500 loads of fuel, will be trucked up this year's winter road to the Snap Lake site.

More than $80 million in contracts have been awarded to date, with more than $50 million of those going to Northern companies and $38 million to aboriginal firms, said Ken Smith, De Beers Canada's business and community liaison.

Smith gave the update at a recent Yellowknife Chamber of Commerce event as part of a talk on business opportunities related to the construction of the mine. Contracts were also introduced for the 2006 Phase 2 work.

De Beers Canada estimates it will spend $160 million on Snap Lake construction next year.

"We need to understand what the opportunities are in order to provide better financial advice in order to finance those opportunities," said James Cavanagh, account manager of business banking at the Royal Bank of Canada, who was at the chamber session.

"Success in the growth of the economy is a win for everybody."

That growth has already been seen in the case of a number of ventures servicing the site. Tli Cho Logistics had 18 employees when it first started work at Snap Lake in February.

Since then, the Behcho Ko Development Corp. company has had up to 26 employees working on-site.

Additionally, a joint-venture between Aboriginal Engineering and the Denesoline Corp. was formed specifically for work on the Snap Lake site, said Bob Johnson, office manager with the engineering company.

Between 10 and 12 employees are providing surface and underground surveying through three contracts it won.

"If we're not involved directly when the mine is operational, we hope our employees who have been trained at the site will work with the operators," he said.

An estimated 450 people, of which 40 per cent are Northern, are required for construction work. Once the mine opens, 500 employees will be needed - 60 per cent are expected to be Northerners.

Contracts for the Gahcho Kue project - 51 per cent controlled by De Beers Canada - are due to be awarded shortly for what will be De Beers second diamond mine in the NWT, Smith said.

These are expected to include catering, road transport and electrical service work.