Dominion Diamond Corporation said that it has filed an updated technical report under National Instrument 43-101 for the Diavik Diamond Mine which not only extends the mine life till 2025, but also projects a 16% increase in carat production and a 22% increase in revenue. The Company said that the report had been prepared by the operator of the Diavik mine, Diavik Diamond Mines (2012) Inc., a subsidiary of Rio Tinto plc.

The new report is an update on the one prepared in 2015 and reflects some of the results of the drilling campaigns and mining activities that have taken place after the 2015 report was released, the Company said.

Dominion announced that the mine life has been extended to 2025 from 2023 and as a result, other parameters have changed as well. The new report estimates that 46.0 million carats will be recovered between 2017 and 2025, an increase of 6.3 million carats or 16%, from the previous estimate for the comparable period (2017-2023 in the 2015 report).

Similarly, the forecast is for total revenue to reach approximately $9.0 billion and total operating cash flow to be approximately $3.7 billion between 2017 and 2025, an increase of 22% and 32%, respectively, from the previous comparable estimates, Dominion reported.

The updated Tech Report states that total operating costs and total capital expenditures between 2017 and 2025 are consistent with the previous estimate for the comparable period. In the former case, the impact of cost escalation and the increase in mine life and reclamation are offset by efficiency improvements, while in the latter, lower expected capital expenditures at the A-21 pipe are offset by higher sustaining capital expenditures related to cost escalation and the increase in mine life.

Jim Gowans, Chairman of the Board of Directors commented, “The focus on cost efficiency improvements and development of the A-21 pipe, which underpins the mine life extension, is consistent with our goal of increasing net asset value per share.”