Snap Lake

Built on the shores of Snap Lake, 220 kilometres northeast of Yellowknife, the Snap Lake 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 deposits which are shaped like pipes or carrots.

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.

Over the next two years, an automated process plant capable of handling 3,150 tonnes of ore per day, water and sewer treatment plants and a utilities building to power the site as well as an airstrip capable of landing 737 jets and Hercules C-130 transport planes were built.

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.

During February and March, fuel and other supplies are hauled to site via a winter road from Yellowknife. Re-supply is coordinated by a team of logistics and materials management specialists in Yellowknife and at Snap Lake.

By June 31, 2008 C$1.1 billion dollars had been spent on construction and operation of the mine. Of that total, C$775.8 million has been spent with North West Territories-based contractors and suppliers, including C$520.8 million with Aboriginal businesses or Joint Ventures.

The mine reached commercial production earlier this year, and is now ramping up to full production. Construction of the crushing and conveying system underground was completed in early 2008.

Once in full operation, Snap Lake will employ about 560 workers. This includes approximately 417 De Beers Canada employees at the mine and in the Yellowknife office, as well as others who work for contractors on site.

Most mine production staff work two-week rotations in and out of site. Once construction is complete, about 260 people will work on site at any given time.

De Beers has established 40 training positions for the Snap Lake mine and aims to fill all forty by the third year of operations.

At the end of 2007, nine apprentices had been hired, and seven students from the Aurora College Mineral Process Plant Operator training program were  placed in the main treatment plant as trainees and a number of underground mining trainees were also hired.

This commitment to building a Northwest Territories-based workforce includes investment in education and training initiatives like the Kimberlite Career and Technical Centre, Women in Mining, Oil and Gas program, and De Beers Books in Homes program, which has distributed 17,000 books to Aboriginal children in communities near the mine since 2003.

The Snap Lake Mine was built and is being operated with a commitment to maintaining the highest environmental management standards.

The Snap Lake Mine is the only diamond mine in the North West Territories that has certified its environmental management systems to the high international standard, ISO 14001, through advanced exploration, construction and before operations.

An Environmental Agreement with the territorial and federal governments and Aboriginal communities near the mine provides for ongoing monitoring of the environmental stewardship of the company.

Working to ensure benefits from the mine flow to communities close to the mine, we have established four Impact Benefit Agreements with Aboriginal communities and governments close to our projects.

In addition, a socio-economic agreement with the Government of the Northwest Territories has also been completed.

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