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.”