Quebec diamond mine decides not to reopen yet
The Renard diamond mine, in the James Bay territory of Quebec, will not reopen yet, despite the province’s government announcing that mining activities can restart as essential services.
Diamond miner Stornoway is keeping Renard on care and maintenance, given the structural challenges still affecting diamond market sales, as well as the depressed prices for diamonds owing to Covid-19.
The decision to keep operations suspended will impact nearly 540 people and only a team of 50 will remain on site to assume the care-and-maintenance activities, the company said in a statement on Tuesday.
“The unprecedented global events we are experiencing have unfortunately led the board of directors to take this difficult decision impacting our employees and a number of our valued stakeholders.
“The diamond market has proven over time to be resilient and prices have recovered following economic downturns,” commented Stornoway president and CEO Patrick Godin.
The company stressed that the pandemic had led to the entire marketing chain and diamond price collapsing.
Global travel bans are limiting access for buyers to diamond sightings in Antwerp, Belgium, physical distancing measures and poor financial market conditions are affecting the rough diamond polishing operations and general economic conditions have impacted adversely on retail diamonds and prices.
Meanwhile, many other mines in Quebec, including the Canadian Malartic and Lamaque mines, have announced that they are reopening on Wednesday, in line with the provincial classification of mining as an essential service.
Comments
The
content
you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.
If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.
If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.
For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation