Stories & insights

Safety was top of mind as close to 50 representatives from companies interested in doing business with De Beers Group at Gahcho Kué and Snap Lake mines gathered for a quarterly Safety and Business Summit in Yellowknife.

The summit provided an opportunity for sharing best practices around safety and for businesses to learn about the dozen contracts that will be open for bids during 2020.

“Gahcho Kué’s production success is built upon our commitment to working safely so it’s essential that the companies we work with share that commitment,” said Lyndon Clark, General Manager of Gahcho Kué mine. “We hope that by doing this on a regular basis our business partners can learn from us and we can learn from their best practices as well.”

Tyler Cochrane, Vice President of Operational Excellence for Westcan Bulk Transport, shared an overview of the company’s fatigue management program at the summit. Westcan is hauling 50 million litres of fuel to Gahcho Kué during this year’s winter road resupply program.

During 2020, 12 contracts will be open to bids, including supply of ad hoc skilled labour, hazardous waste, passenger and air cargo services and a variety of others.

During 2019, preliminary estimates indicate that $220 million was spent with NWT businesses and joint ventures at Gahcho Kué, representing 76% of the $292 million spent to operate the mine.

The next Gahcho Kué Safety and Business Summit is expected to be held in late June.