De Beers Group of Companies announced recently that it has received an “Interim Approval decision by the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board (MVLWB) for the Extended Care and Maintenance and Water Management plans for its Snap Lake mine in the Northwest Territories”.

The Company had put the Snap Lake Mine, which was opened in 2008, on a “Care & Maintenance Plan” in December 2015. At the time the Company had explained the move saying: “The decision follows a review of the mine's operation, particularly in light of current market conditions. De Beers will evaluate market conditions over the next year to determine the potential of the ore body as a viable mine.”

The Approval is subject to De Beers including “commitments” made during the Stakeholder review process into its updated plans.

Agreeing to the recommended revisions, De Beers was to have submitted “the updated ECM plan by this Thursday, June 30th, with the updated ECM Water Management Plan to follow shortly thereafter”.

 Snap Lake is Canada’s only fully underground diamond mine, and De Beers had submitted the Care & Maintenance Plans with a view to preserving its significant diamond resource, for extraction at a future date. 

“De Beers will now begin the planning and subsequent work required to remove underground workings of Snap Lake Mine to flood responsibly, minimizing the flow of water into the receiving environment and significantly reducing the operation’s total environmental impact. This will improve the sustainability of the mine during suspended operations so that it can be held as a long-term asset,” the Company announced.

Kim Truter, Chief Executive Officer of De Beers Canada, said: “We are grateful to all the parties who participated in the review process, in particular the valuable inputs from our Aboriginal, business and government partners. We remain focused on preserving the significant diamond resource within the Snap Lake mine.”