Diavik Diamond Mines

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The Diavik Diamonds Project is located in the Northwest Territories (NWT) of Canada, approximately 300 kilometers northeast of the capital city of Yellowknife. The Diavik Project is centered on a large 20 square kilometer island, informally called East Island, in Lac de Gras. The territory has a 70-year history of mining for gold, silver, lead, zinc, uranium, tungsten and radium. In 1999, two mines were operating - a gold mine at Yellowknife and the Ekati diamond mine near Lac de Gras. The Diavik Mine will become the territory’s third operating mine.

ACT was awarded the grout curtain contract associated with the dike construction. The grout curtain in conjunction with a plastic cutoff wall and jet grouting creates the seepage control system required for the newly constructed dikes. Work associated with completion of the 12,000 foot long single row grout curtain included: drilling of the primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary split spaced grout holes through the dike/the plastic cutoff wall/the jet grout zone and into the granite rock foundation. Extensive quality control testing was performed on grout mixes and real-time computer monitoring of all water testing and grouting operations was performed utilizing electronic flowmeters and pressure transmitters linked to a personal computer. A customized computer program, RTGESTM (Real Time Grouting Evaluation System) was written and utilized by ACT for this project.

Lac de Gras is 100 kilometers north of the tree line in the arctic region of the Northwest Territories, commonly called the barren lands because of the lack of trees. The project was subjected to extreme winter conditions. Temperatures as low as –50oC (-58oF) were encountered. As a result, we custom designed and manufactured our major equipment to resist these conditions.

Additional Notes:

Quick Facts

• Estimated reserves – 29.8 million tonnes at 3.2 carats/tonne (diluted)
• Three ore bodies named A154 South, A154 North, and A418
• Ore production – approximately 2 million tonnes annually
• Annual diamond production – peaks at approximately 10 million carats
• Mine Life – estimated 16 to 22 years
• Project capital cost – C$1.3 billion
• Total employment – approximately 725 workers
• Annual mine purchasing – over C$200 million
• Start of diamond production – January 2003