Yellowknife (Mar 10/06) - Unseasonably warm weather generally means more smiles, but not along the Tibbitt-Contwoyto winter road.

Poor conditions are creating fears some Northern mining and exploration companies won't get all of their supplies delivered before the season ends.

The length of the Tibbitt-Contwoyto ice road season varies greatly from year to year. Here's how it has done since 1999: 2005 - 76 days 2004 - 65 days 2003 - 55 days 2002 - 65 days 2001 - 70 days 2000 - 63 days 1999 - 57 days

Trucks have been forced to carry partial loads on the almost 600-km ice road due to thinning ice, said Tom Hoefer, supervisor for the Joint Venture Management Committee operating the route.

"The committee does not expect the 2006 ice road to achieve maximum load capacity," said Hoefer who answered questions via e-mail while attending a conference in Ontario.

A record 9,000-plus loads were expected to roll out of Yellowknife this year, he said. As of Tuesday, 4,800 truckloads had been sent with four trucks dispatched every 20 minutes. The ice road opened to light traffic on Feb. 4.

By contrast, 2005 was the second longest shipping season on record for this mine lifeline with 8,200 loads travelling the road between Jan. 25 and April 11.

The shortest season on record was 1991 when the road operated for just 49 days.

"If the weather were colder, at -20C, it would be a little bit better," said ice road trucker Edwin Fillier. While there is more slush than usual on some lakes and portages, he said the road is still holding together.

"The security and road crews have been doing a phenomenal job," he said.

Trucks are required to maintain speeds of less than 30 km-h on the route because travelling any faster can tragically send the vehicle breaking through the ice.

"As long as everyone drives to the speed limits and follows the rules, we expect we can keep the road open until the end of March," said Hoefer.

"We will haul as long as it is absolutely safe to do so and once the road finally closes, each company will determine what they might need to fly in."

This year BHP Billiton is expecting roughly 3,000 loads in total at Ekati, while Diavik is shooting for slightly less than 3,000, said Hoefer.

Exploration camps and mine construction projects at De Beers' Snap Lake and Tahera's Jericho also expect a considerable amount of freight.

De Beers was hoping to get approximately 2,000 truckloads of freight and 500 fuel tankers to Snap Lake.

Jericho planned for 450 truckloads to come via the road.

"Far and away the majority of this year's loads for us are fuel," said Peter Gillin, Tahera chairman and chief executive officer.

"Had the road been delayed last year, it would have been a much bigger issue."

With the majority of construction work done on Nunavut's first diamond mine, anything that doesn't make it in now can be flown in, he said.

Tahera contractor SRK Consulting previously estimated the mining firm's transportation cost on ice road loads averages $2,000 per truck.

- with files from John Curran