Guy Quenneville
Northern News Services
Published Wednesday, January 23, 2008
YELLOWKNIFE - The Tibbitt to Contwoyto winter road will have fewer loads pass across its icy expanse this year, according to a spokesperson for Diavik Diamond Mines.
Last year, the road accommodated a record 11,000 loads, but that number is expected to shrink significantly this year due to a number of factors, said Tom Hoefer, manager of communications and external relations for Diavik Diamond Mines.
Diavik is one of four mines serviced by the 600-kilometre-long road; the others are De Beers Snap Lake, BHP Ekati and the Jericho Mine belonging to Tahera Diamond Corp., which currently does not have the capital to ship supplies like fuel and dynamite up the road.
After a rights offering last month failed to raise $36.7 million to re-supply the mine for the winter, the company went into creditor protection last Wednesday.
Hoefer declined to comment on whether Tahera's inability to use the winter road would have an adverse effect on the number of loads.
The ice road is expected to transport around 8,500 loads this year, said Hoefer.
"There are two reasons the number is down," he said.
"One, Snap Lake is essentially finished construction. And the other reason is fuel."
Last year was a banner year for the road, and the mines took advantage of the favourable conditions.
"We hauled a lot of fuel last year," said Hoefer. "Everybody topped up their tanks and as a result there's a lot of extra fuel around for this winter road season. So it's not critical they bring as much this year."
With Snap Lake finished, there are no large construction projects on the horizon.
"That would have a major effect (on the number of loads)," said Mike Vaydik, general manager of the NWT and Nunavut Chamber of Mines.
Although last year was a record-setting year for the winter road, 2006 was not such a banner year.
Warmer conditions meant a shortened operating season. The number of loads that year dropped dramatically to 6,800.
The builder of the main road, Nuna Logistics, started work on the ice road early this year - before Christmas - to avoid the pitfalls of 2006.
"They went in, safely, to remove as much snow as we could using Haglands, which can float in the water if the ice breaks - not that we want that," said Hoefer.
The crews returned to work immediately after the holidays to begin flooding the road, measuring the ice temperatures using ground penetrating radar and remove whatever snow accumulated over the holidays.
The ice must be 28 inches thick for vehicles to drive on it safely; as of the report submitted last Friday by Erik Madsen, director of winter road operations for Diavik, the ice was 22 to 25 inches thick on the road's southern portions and 27 to 30 inches in the north.
Depending on weather conditions, the road is expected to be open within the next couple of weeks.
Last year the road opened Jan. 27 and remained operational until April 9.
