Further to its earlier announcements, and upon a review of repairs required at the Ekati Diamond Mine process plant (where the fire had broken out on June 23rd) Dominion Diamond Corporation confirmed that the process would take approximately three months from the date of the fire. It also said that the cost of repairs are currently estimated at about CDN $25 million; however, Dominion said on a cautionary note that this was only a preliminary estimate and “may change as the repair activities progress”.

The Company stated that it has an insurance policy on the Ekati diamond mine that includes “a property damage and business interruption component” and that it has “commenced work with its insurance claims adjusters”.

“The Company is reducing operating costs and deferring some capital costs during the plant downtime,” Dominion announced. “Mining activities continue at the higher value Misery open pit and Koala underground, and have been suspended at Pigeon and Lynx. The Misery and Koala material will be stockpiled, with the intention of processing a blend of the high value Misery Main and Koala ore when the process plant restarts.”

A reworked production guidance for the mine for fiscal 2017 has been put out, taking into account the process plant downtime. The original production plan, looked at recovering a total (from all pipes) of 5.6 million carats of diamonds  from 3.9 million tonnes of ore processed ; the new production guidance for the year estimates a recovery of a total of 4.7 million carats of diamonds from 2.8 million tonnes processed.

A temporary layoff of around three months, affecting about 330 temporary and permanent contractors, and employees has already been implemented, the Company said.

Brendan Bell, Chief Executive Officer, stated: “We continue to actively manage this situation, and have implemented a prudent strategy to minimise the impact of this incident on our cash flow. We’ve planned mining activities to allow for the option to prioritize higher value ore sources on startup, thereby minimising the impact on the value of our fiscal year production.”