TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Diamond major De Beers Canada on Wednesday said it had signed an impact benefit agreement (IBA) with the North Slave Métis Alliance on behalf of its joint venture (JV) partner Mountain Province Diamonds for the Gahcho Kué diamond mine, in the Northwest Territories.
The aim of the IBA would be to establish a framework by which the Métis community could participate in the employment and business opportunities, training and development, and financial benefits of the mine.
This was the first IBA negotiated for the giant project, which would have a life of about 11 years and would provide about 400 permanent jobs. Yearly production would average about 4.5-million carats.
Gahcho Kué, located at Kennedy Lake, in Canada’s Northwest Territories, is said to be the world’s largest and richest new diamond development project and production was expected to begin in the first half of 2015.
The project consists of a cluster of four diamondiferous kimberlites, three of which have a collective probable mineral reserve of 31.3-million tons grading 1.57 ct/t for total diamond content of 49-million carats. A 2010 feasibility study indicated that the project has an internal rate of return of 33.9%.
In January, the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board closed the public record for the Gahcho Kué environmental-impact review, marking a significant milestone in the permitting of the diamond mine.
De Beers Canada holds a 51% stake in the JV, with Mountain Province holding the balance.