MANAGEMENT

De Beers ramps up Gahcho Kué

The De Beers Group and Mountain Province Diamonds have announced that the Gahcho Kué process plant in Canada’s Northwest Territories has been commissioned, and that ore from the mine is now being fed to the process plant to signal the formal ramp-up of diamond production. The project remains on track to reach full commercial operation in the March quarter of 2017

staff reporter
The Gahcho Kué pit and plant

The Gahcho Kué pit and plant

Gahcho Kué, which is located 280km north east of Yellowknife, is the largest new diamond mine under construction in the world. It is expected to produce an average of 4.5 million carats per annum over the life of the mine.

First ore was exposed at Gahcho Kué on March 23, 2016. The commissioning phase introduced ore into the processing facility on June 20, 2016 with the first commissioning carats being recovered on June 30, 2016.

The mining operation has, to date, pre-stripped in excess of 20Mt of waste material during the capital phase thereby ensuring sufficient exposed ore for production ramp-up.

Kim Truter, CEO of De Beers Canada, commented: “Gahcho Kué will not only strengthen De Beers in Canada, but ensure Canada remains the third leading diamond producer, by value, in the world. We are excited to see this project move into the production phase and must congratulate our Gahcho Kué team and thank our community partners for helping us deliver this world-class mine.”

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