| Snap Lake Diamond Mine | |
|---|---|
A mining truck exiting the mine portal, winter 2006 |
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| Location | |
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Snap Lake Diamond Mine
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| Location | 220 km (140 mi) northeast of Yellowknife |
| Territory | Northwest Territories |
| Country | Canada |
| Owner | |
| Company | De Beers |
| Website | www.debeerscanada.com |
| Year of acquisition | 2000 |
| Production | |
| Products | Diamonds |
| Production | 1.1 million tonnes of ore |
| Financial year | Annually |
| History | |
| Opened | 2007 |
The Snap Lake Diamond Mine is located about 220 km (140 mi) northeast of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, and, according to De Beers, was their first mine outside Africa and Canada's first completely underground diamond mine.[1]
Construction began with the opening of an access winter road in 2005. At the end of 2009, DeBeers had spent US$1.4 billion dollars on construction and mine operation. Of that total, DeBeers spent US$977 million with Northwest Territories-based contractors and suppliers, including US$630 million with Aboriginal businesses or Joint Ventures.[2]
The mine began commercial production on January 16, 2008 and was officially opened on July 25, 2008. In 2007, De Beers said they planned to employ 500 people, with 250 people working in the mine at any given moment.[1] Lifetime of the mine is estimated to be 20 years. De Beers expects to produce 1.1 million tonnes (1.2 million short tons) annually with 1.2 carats (240 mg) per metric ton.[1]
The Snap Lake mine was featured in Ice Road Truckers, a television series on The History Channel. The Snap Lake mine was also featured on the Canadian Discovery channel show Daily Planet as part of the special feature 'Daily Planet Goes North – More Ice for the Arctic'.[3]
The mine is served by the Snap Lake Airport.