JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Gahcho Kué, the world’s largest new diamond mine in 13 years, has officially started commercial production.
The mine, developed in a joint venture between De Beers Group and Mountain Province Diamonds, is expected to produce about 54-million carats of rough diamonds over its mine life.
The fly-in, fly-out remote mine site is situated 280 km northeast of Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories of Canada.
Comprising three openpits, the mine will employ 530 people full-time, with the majority working a two-week in/two-week out rotation.
Production ramp-up began in August 2016 and the official opening ceremony took place in September.
“The mine has reached this landmark, on budget and ahead of schedule, and is set to deliver socioeconomic benefits of more than C$5-billion to the economy of Canada’s Northwest Territories over its lifetime,” De Beers CEO Bruce Cleaver said in a statement issued on Thursday.
According to a socioeconomic impact report compiled by EY, the mine is estimated to provide a further C$5.3-billion in gross value-add to the Northwest Territories now that it has reached commercial production. This is in addition to a C$440-million contribution to the Northwest Territories economy in 2015.