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Today De Beers Group - Canada and Mountain Province Diamonds released the Gahcho Kué Mine Socio-Economic Report: Building Forever 2018, highlighting that the number of Northwest Territories (“NWT”) residents employed at joint venture Gahcho Kué Mine rose by 12% in 2018 compared to the previous year.

The mine provided 527 person years of employment during the year, of whom 265, or 50%, live in the NWT, an increase of 29 over 2017. This includes both De Beers Group and contractor employees.

“Our commitment to contributing to local communities is expressed through jobs, spending with northern businesses and corporate social investment.  It is encouraging to see Gahcho Kué improving each year, establishing a solid foundation for a long-term positive impact in the Northwest Territories,” said Kim Truter, De Beers Group CEO, Canada.

The report also shows:

• 26% of all Gahcho Kué Mine employees are Indigenous residents of the NWT;
• the number of women working at the mine increased to 20% of the total workforce;
• 72% of the $291 million spent on goods and services during 2018 was with NWT and Indigenous companies, well above the 60% commitment made in the Socio-Economic Agreement with the Government of the Northwest Territories;
• $530,000 was spent in communities through corporate social investment programs;
• mine employees took part in a total of 24,000 hours of training;
• 13 NWT residents were hired into training positions at the mine, six in the process plant, five in mining and two in apprenticeship positions; and,
• a number of initiatives were launched during the year aimed to support employee wellness, including a weight management program and a visit by a sleep expert to help employees manage shift work, among others.

Stuart Brown, President and CEO of Mountain Province Diamonds commented: “Our corporate social responsibility is measured in terms of improving conditions for our employees, shareholders, communities, and environment and our long-term success as a business is entirely dependent on our commitment to ensuring long term sustainability of the environment and communities in which we operate. We are very proud of our achievements in the Northwest Territories. The quality of our assets, along with our relationships with local communities and regulatory bodies are key factors to the success of our company and we believe we are well positioned for this.”

Among the highlights in 2018 were the continuation of De Beers Group’s popular Books in Homes program, which saw 6,900 books provided free of charge to youth in local communities and nine Grade 7-9 girls from the NWT attend the University of Waterloo IMPACT Camp for Indigenous Girls.

The full report is available on the Reports page of this website.