Snap Lake Mine to receive extended care and maintenance

An Extended Care and Maintenance and Water Management plan for the De Beers Snap Lake Mine has been approved, following a review of the mine’s operation in December last year.

The approved maintenance plan comes from the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board (MVLWB) and will see De Beers remove underground workings to flood the closed mine. This will minimise the flow of waste water into the local environment and significantly reduce the environmental footprint of the mine.

De Beers will see this as an opportunity to improve the sustainability of the mine during the suspended operations, increasing the mine life of the asset.

Kim Truter, Chief Executive Officer of De Beers Canada, said: “We are grateful to all the parties who participated in the review process, in particular the valuable inputs from our Aboriginal, business and government partners. We remain focused on preserving the significant diamond resource within the Snap Lake mine.”

The Snap Lake Mine is De Beers first diamond mine outside of Africa, located northeast of Yellowknife, Canada. 

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