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CANADIAN INDUSTRY ONLINE - APRIL 2012
THE SPARKLING CITY
Yellowknife is the hub for many diamond explorers, including De Beers. The company operates the Snap Lake Mine, which is about 220
km northeast of Yellowknife.
FACTS:
L
ocation: 63° 34’ 30” latitude and 110° 52’ 00” longitude, about 220 kilometres northeast of Yellowknife
Mine Area: ‹500 hectares
Recoverable grade: 1.2 carats per tonne
Annual tonne processing capacity: 1.1 million tonnes
Annual carat production capacity: 1.4 million carats
SNAP LAKE MINE OVERVIEW
The Snap Lake Mine, De Beers’ first mine outside of Africa, is unique in Canada. Built on the shore of Snap Lake, 220 kilometres north-
east of Yellowknife, the mine is Canada’s first completely underground diamond mine. The Snap Lake ore body is a 2.5 metre thick
dyke that dips an average of 12-15° from the northwest shore down under the lake. It is unlike most diamond-bearing kimberlite depos-
its which are known as ‘pipes’ due to their conical or carrot-like shape. The kimberlite was discovered in 1997 by Winspear Resources.
De Beers Canada bought the project in the fall of 2000 and received permits to build and operate the mine in May 2004. Following pre-
development design and engineering work, construction started with the winter road in 2005. Because of Snap Lake’s remote location,
building and operating the mine requires careful planning. Travel to the site is only possible by airplane for all but six to eight weeks of
the year, when a seasonal ice road is used to re-supply the mine with equipment, parts and other materials needed to operate the mine.
By December 31, 2010 $1.5 billion had been spent on construction and operation of the mine. Of that total, $1.077 billion has been
spent with NWT-based contractors and suppliers, including $676 million with Aboriginal businesses or Joint Ventures.The mine com-
menced commercial production on January 16, 2008 and the Official Mine Opening took place on July 25, 2008.