Canada's frigid north a diamond miner's paradise
Thursday, 13 March 2008
DIAVIK MINE, Northwest Territories, March 12 (Reuters): Once a hotbed of gold mining, Canada's far north is now unearthing riches from a different precious commodity: diamonds.
At the Diavik mine, just over 200 km (130 miles) south of the Arctic Circle, a 200 metre (650 foot) deep crater pierces a frozen-white tundra, yielding some of the purest diamond deposits known.
But the result is worth the challenges and costs. The mine produces clear, white stones of jewelry rather than industrial quality and yields are about 3 carats per tonne, three times the industry average.
Last year, it produced 11.9 million carats, roughly 10 per cent of global output and a little more than a third of the annual production of Rio's Argyle mine in Australia, the world's largest producer by volume.
Total capital and operational spending on the mine has reached $3.2 billion, including $563 million for an underground expansion that should keep it running past 2020.
At the Diavik mine, just over 200 km (130 miles) south of the Arctic Circle, a 200 metre (650 foot) deep crater pierces a frozen-white tundra, yielding some of the purest diamond deposits known.
But the result is worth the challenges and costs. The mine produces clear, white stones of jewelry rather than industrial quality and yields are about 3 carats per tonne, three times the industry average.
Last year, it produced 11.9 million carats, roughly 10 per cent of global output and a little more than a third of the annual production of Rio's Argyle mine in Australia, the world's largest producer by volume.
Total capital and operational spending on the mine has reached $3.2 billion, including $563 million for an underground expansion that should keep it running past 2020.