VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – Surplus underground and surface mining equipment from diamond major De Beers Canada’s suspended Snap Lake mine, in the Northwest Territories, will come under the hammer from Wednesday in a series of negotiated sales and an online auction.

TCL Asset Group and Nasdaq-listed Liquidity Services announced on Wednesday that they would handle the sale process, which includes the sale of mining equipment, construction equipment and new inventory such as tyres, wires and cables, transformers, substations and underground mining consumables located at two locations in Yellowknife.

"This sale is a highly significant event as it not only gives buyers the opportunity to acquire high-quality underground and surface mining equipment from a major global mining company, but also includes an unprecedented volume of brand new equipment parts and consumables,” TLC CEO Terrance Jacobs said in a press release.

Major assets are offered by negotiated sale from Wednesday until July 31, with all other assets slated to go under the hammer during a two-day webcast auction, which will be held during the week of August 1.

Specific assets available include Komatsu haul trucks, wheel loaders, excavators and bulldozers; Sandvik rock drills, bolters and scooptrams; Getman articulated vehicles; Mine Cat and Toyota utility trucks; SkyTrak telehandlers; Bridgestone, Firestone and Michelin tyres; and UEE/Delta substations and transformers.

Information about the sale can be found on the TCL website and at GoIndustry DoveBid, a Liquidity Services e-commerce marketplace.

De Beers in December announced that it would flood the mothballed Snap Lake mine in January, more than a year after it was placed on care and maintenance on the back of lower diamond prices.

De Beers was unable to find a suitable external party to buy the Snap Lake mine, citing extended care and maintenance being the most responsible and viable route forward.

The long-term phase of care and maintenance will mainly be focused on environmental monitoring activities.