About Gahcho Kué

For nearly 20 years, exploration, environmental studies and other work has been underway, and this work has led to the development of the proposed Gahcho Kué mine.

Located at Kennady Lake, approximately 280 km northeast of Yellowknife and 80 km southeast of our Snap Lake Mine in the Northwest Territories, the Gahcho Kué Project is a joint venture between De Beers Canada Inc. (51%) and Mountain Province Diamonds Inc. (49%).

Exploration has determined that three kimberlite deposits have potential to be mined: 5034, Hearne and Tuzo.

De Beers is committed to building this new mine to high safety standards and with deep respect for the land.

In November 2005, De Beers applied for a Type “A” Land Use Permit and a Class “A” Water License to construct and operate an open pit mine at Kennady Lake. The project was referred to Environmental Impact Review in 2006.

De Beers filed the Environmental Impact Statement in December 2010. A final draft of the Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) on the project, ordered in September 2009, was completed by JDS Energy & Mining Inc. in September 2010. The joint venture partners approved the feasibility study in June 2011 and ordered a plan and budget for development of the Gahcho Kué mine. That plan will be used to make the final investment decision to build and operate the mine.

In July 2011, the Gahcho Kué Environmental Impact Review Panel issued a conformity statement for the EIS and set the work plan for the EIR. The panel decision is expected by July 2013.

Accessing the kimberlite

One of thousands of small lakes on the barrens, Kennady Lake is about 793 hectares, or about one per cent of the size of Lac de Gras – which is where BHP Billiton’s Ekati Mine and Rio Tinto-Harry Winston’s Diavik Mine are located.

Protecting water quality and ensuring the land and lake can be returned to as close to their natural state as quickly as possible after the end of mining are key to the Gahcho Kué Project plan.

We know that the kimberlite deposits are pipe shaped, steep sided and occur mainly under the southern part of Kennady Lake, which is about eight metres deep on average. Because of their shape and size, open-pit mining is the best method to access the kimberlite.

In order to mine the three kimberlite deposits, Kennady Lake will be lowered and some parts of the lake almost completely drained. This will be done by building a series of dykes, ditches, berms and ponds.

As the lake is lowered, clean water will be pumped to the watershed north of Kennady Lake and to natural lake outflows to the east. All water pumped from the lake will remain in its natural watershed. Water quality will be carefully monitored as the lake is lowered, as well as during construction, operations, closure and reclamation.

Site runoff will be contained in a water management pond and eventually be used to fill Tuzo pit, allowing for the lake to refill more quickly once mining is complete.

What we propose to build

Construction is expected to take two years and is estimated to cost between C$650 million-C$750 million.

The mine complex will include an accommodation facility with enough private rooms to house the approximately 372 employees needed to operate the mine and the up to 690 workers needed for construction. There will also be an administration complex, process plant, maintenance and warehouse facility, a lined and bermed fuel tank farm, explosives storage and manufacturing facilities, and an airstrip capable of handling the aircraft needed to fly workers and supplies to the site.

A 120 km winter road that follows the route established during exploration of the site would be build to the site each year, connecting to the Tibbitt-Contwoyto winter road near the top end of MacKay Lake.

Project Facts

The three open pits will be mined in sequence, starting with 5034, then Hearne and finally Tuzo. The mine has an estimated 11 year life, and about 4.5 million carats will be extracted from three million tonnes of kimberlite mined annually.

Working with Northerners

The proposed Gahcho Kué mine will employ about 372 people, with just over half of that number required on site at any one time. During the peak of construction about 690 people will be required to help build the mine.

De Beers will continue to support the development of a skilled northern workforce, working with government and other partners to provide a range of training opportunities.

De Beers’ NWT Business Policy ensures that Aboriginal and NWT businesses participate significantly in our northern projects. To the end of 2010, De Beers has spent approximately $1.5 billion to build and operate of our Snap Lake Mine, including $1.077 billion with NWT companies, of which $676 million was with Aboriginal companies or joint ventures. Northern Businesses are well positioned to continue to provide competitive goods and services to the project and the company looks forward to building on the strong northern business relationships established at our Snap Lake Mine.

Progressive Reclamation

The Gahcho Kué plan has been developed to allow De Beers to progressively reclaim the mine site. Our plan calls for some of the rock stripped from the top of kimberlite pipes to be used for construction of roads, the airstrip and other infrastructure.

Initially, processed kimberlite will be stored in engineered containment facilities that will be reclaimed as mining continues. Rock not needed for construction will be stored in two waste rock piles.

Eventually, waste rock and processed kimberlite will be deposited into the mined-out 5034 and Hearne pits.

Project History

View Gahcho Kué Gallery

Gahcho Kué Project Newsletter

Sharing Information

Adobe Acrobat Reader is required to read the document listed below. To download a free copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader visit Adobe.com. • Sharing Information - October 2010: PDF: 1,371KB

Join in the conversation

De Beers submitted the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board in December 2010, which announced the Environmental Impact Review schedule in July 2011. A decision from the Panel reviewing the Project is expected by July 2013.

While the review process moves forward, we plan to continue community engagement, reaching out to communities near Gahcho Kué to hear people’s concerns and ideas.

We welcome the opportunity to make improvements to our project and invite you to tell us about any concerns you have and to provide suggestions for changes to what we propose.

Write to us by mail:

De Beers Canada
Suite 300, 5102-50th Avenue
Yellowknife, NT X1A 3S8

Call us:

Toll-Free 1-888-762-7525 (NWT only)
1-867-766-7303

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