Gem-miner De Beers will officially open its first mines outside of the Southern Hemisphere over the next two days, with ceremonies scheduled at both the Snap Lake mine, located 220 km northeast of Yellowknife, in Canada's Northwest Territories and the Victor mine, in Ontario.

Snap Lake is the country's first fully underground diamond mine, while Victor is the first diamond mine in Ontario.

"This is an exciting moment in the history of De Beers...never before have we opened two mines at the same time and never before have we opened a mine outside of Africa," said De Beers chairperson Nicky Oppenheimer.

Snap Lake will produce 1,4-million carats a year for 20 years, and Victor is expected to deliver 600 000 ct for a mine life of 12 years.

"Everyone has worked very hard to bring the Snap Lake and Victor mines into production," said De Beers Canada president Jim Gowans.

"It has taken us several years and over $1-billion to build each mine and, along the way, we have built strong relationships with local communities and upheld the highest environmental standards.”

The ceremonies would also be attended by De Beers Canada chairperson Jonathan Oppenheimer and group MD Gareth Penny.

The diamond miner has agreed with the respective provincial governments to sell 10% of the diamonds produced at both Snap Lake and Victor to government-selected manufacturers, on the condition that they meet the client selection criteria of De Beers' marketing arm, the Diamond Trading Company.

Further, between the two mines, De Beers has spent more than $650-million with aboriginal businesses, the company said.

The company has also signed a four impact benefit agreements (IBAs) for the Snap Lake mine, including with the Yellowknife Dene First Nation, the Tlicho government, the North Slave Metis Alliance and Lutsel K'e and Kache Dene First Nation.

There are three community agreements in place for the Victor mine, including an IBA with the Attawapiskat First Nation, a working relationship agreement with the Taykwa Tagamou Nation, and an IBA with Moose Cree First Nation.

Canada's first diamond mine, BHP Billiton's Ekati mine, opened in the Northwest Territories in 1998, followed by the Diavik operation, owned by Rio Tinto and Aber Diamonds (now Harry Winston), in 2003.

A third mine, Jericho, started production in the Nunavut territory in 2006, but was placed on care and maintenance this year after its owner, Tahera Diamonds, ran into funding trouble.

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