The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
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Precious stone mines saw some shuffling in Canada's North with Burgundy Diamond Mines Ltd.'s acquisition of the Ekati diamond mine. Already a 40% partner with North Arrow Minerals Inc. at the Naujaat diamond project in Nunavut, Burgundy closed its buyout of Arctic Canadian Diamond Company Ltd. on July 4, which gave the Australian diamond company full ownership of the world-class Ekati Mine and significantly elevating its efforts to deliver high-end cut and polished diamonds...
Klondike Gold Corp. Oct. 11 announced an update on its 2023 exploration program at the company's namesake property in the Dawson Mining District in Yukon, Canada – reporting that it has been a fruitful season that grew the project closer to world-class status. Located roughly 20 kilometers (12 miles) southeast of Dawson City, the Klondike District Gold Project covers 727 square kilometers (280 square miles) of the famed Yukon gold district. According to a 2022 calculation, t...
Like many other northern regions, Canada's North was settled because of its mineral resources. When the Canadian Dominion Government first purchased its arctic regions from the British Crown in the late 1800s, the Northwest Territories was seen as a vast stretch of cold, inhospitable land and was thus largely ignored at the time. However, due to the Klondike Gold Rush, the future of these northern lands would change forever. These days, a new rush has arisen, a white gold...
Burgundy Diamond Mines Ltd. has finalized its acquisition of the Ekati diamond mine in Canada's Northwest Territories, adding another precious stone mine to its portfolio. Already a 40% partner with North Arrow Minerals Inc. at the Naujaat diamond project in Nunavut, Burgundy closed a transaction on July 4 that provides the Australian diamond company full ownership of the world-class Ekati Mine, which will significantly elevate Burgundy's efforts to deliver high-end cut and...
Rio Tinto reflects on extraordinary people, spirit and innovation behind Far North Canada diamond mine. Rio Tinto celebrates the extraordinary people, award-winning innovation, and pioneering spirit behind the 20 years of producing brilliant diamonds at the Diavik Mine in Canada's Northwest Territories. Discovered during the great Canadian diamond rush in the 1990s, Diavik began commercially producing diamonds in 2003. Over the ensuing two decades, Diavik has produced over...
Agrees to $136M deal to acquire full ownership of Northern Canada diamond mine. Toward its goal of building a balanced portfolio of the world's best diamond projects in favorable jurisdictions, Australia-based Burgundy Diamond Mines has agreed to pay US$136 million (A$209 million) to acquire full ownership of Arctic Canadian Diamond Company Ltd.'s world-class Ekati Diamond Mine and other interests in Canada's Northwest Territories. "This is an exciting and transformational...
Mining activity in Northwest Territories held steady in 2022 despite constraints imposed by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic as a cadre of mainly junior mining companies took up the international challenge to seek out large deposits of critical minerals. Early in the year, government officials noted that industry interest in diamonds, gold, and especially critical minerals boded well for the NWT economy in the coming year. "An exciting new chapter is emerging for mining in the...
It all began in 1991, when geologists Charles E. Fipke and Stewart Blusson found 81 small diamonds at Lac de Gras in Northwest Territories, Canada, marking the first diamond pipe discovery in North America. While this groundbreaking discovery is often synonymous with the name Chuck Fipke – as it was the culmination of his relentless pursuit of elusive diamond indicator minerals for hundreds of kilometers from the Mackenzie River Valley eastward to their source near Lac de G...
The territories of northern Canada, so far, appear to have escaped the novel coronavirus pandemic that is currently sweeping the globe. This is due, in part, to the remoteness of the region. But it's also likely the result of extraordinary steps some mining companies are taking to keep COVID-19 out of the region. Sabina Gold & Silver Corp., a Canadian junior aggressively seeking gold in Nunavut, for example, reported March 17 to delay the start of its 2020 exploration program...
Mining exploration and production activity soared in Yukon Territory in 2021 thanks to high metals prices, pro-industry government policies, and mounting successes in the field. Bouncing back from some of the most challenging working conditions in modern history due to the COVID-19 pandemic, placer and hardrock miners stepped up the pace of their activities, posting record production numbers and promising exploration results. With the rollout of COVID vaccines and the prospect...
In a deal that bolsters certainty for the future of the Diavik Mine and Northwest Territories' economy, Rio Tinto has acquired full ownership of this iconic diamond operation in Canada's Arctic. Rio Tinto's 40% partner in Diavik, Dominion Diamond Mines, filed for insolvency protection under the Canadian Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act at the height of the COVID pandemic in 2020. "The CCAA filing was necessitated primarily by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic," Dominion...
For many mining companies eyeing prospects in Canada's far north, 2020 presented insurmountable challenges. But for the few explorers and producers focused on Northwest Territories, the year proved to be quite productive, even as a global coronavirus pandemic added expensive restrictions to already costly campaigns. Rigorous restrictions imposed by local and federal officials to quell potential outbreaks of the disease at mining camps and prevent its spread to local...
Dominion Diamond Mines Nov. 13 announced it will be recalling roughly 60 furloughed employees to prepare for an anticipated restart of its Ekati diamond mine in Northwest Territories. In mid-March, Dominion suspended operations at Ekati. While the shuttering of the diamond mine was partially to safeguard employees and nearby communities from the spread of COVID-19, the company was also suffering financial hardship. In April, Dominion filed for insolvency protection under the...
Though world diamond markets remain closed after their shutdown this spring in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, diamond mining in Canada's North is showing signs of life. One mine, Ekati, shut down in the spring remains closed and most explorers have delayed field work until 2021, an intrepid few are reporting pre-pandemic progress and post-pandemic activities. In the spring, the governments of Northwest Territories and Nunavut imposed strict operating guidelines for all...
Until novel coronavirus ignited a global pandemic that plunged the world economy into recession, foreign investors, except for a lucky few, have salivated from afar over the bountiful mineral riches that others are mining in the vast reaches of Canada's northern territories. But with COVID-19 on the march and no cure or proven vaccine for the deadly malady in sight, traditional sources of capital markets have dried up, leaving many mining companies, especially those with...
Northwest Territories' mining sector took a major blow with the news that Dominion Diamond Mines, majority owner of the Ekati diamond mine and 40% owner of the Diavik diamond mine has filed for insolvency protection under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA). While it has been a tough year for diamond markets, the COVID-19 pandemic was the blow that has forced Dominion to file for creditor protection. "The CCAA filing was necessitated primarily by the impact of the...
North Arrow Minerals Inc. Feb. 27 said a geophysical survey program is underway at LDG (Lac de Gras), a 147,200-hectare (363,700 acres) diamond property in Northwest Territories being explored under a joint venture with Dominion Diamond Mines. These ground geophysical surveys are part of a C$3.5 million 2020 exploration program being funded by Dominion. Designed to continue with systematic exploration of this JV project adjacent to the southwest side of the Diavik diamond...
North Arrow Minerals Inc. Jan. 15 reported microdiamond results from the 2019 drilling of the Anchor kimberlite at LDG (Lac de Gras), a 147,200-hectare (363,700 acres) diamond property in Northwest Territories being explored under a joint venture with Dominion Diamond Mines. The C$2.8 million exploration program carried out at LDG in 2019 focused on kimberlite discovery on this prospective property adjacent to the southwest side of the Diavik diamond mine property. This...
The quest for diamonds at the Kennady North project next door to the Gahcho Kué Mine in Northwest Territories got a boost on Feb. 27 when owner Mountain Province Diamonds Inc. reported plans to begin its 2019 winter exploration program on the 67,432-hectare property. Kennady North covers a portion of the southeastern Slave Geological Province in Northwest Territories within the Kelvin-Faraday Corridor, a northeast-southwest structural feature that continues to the southwest an...
Dominion Diamond Mines Dec. 13 said the largest known gem quality diamond ever found in North America was unearthed at Diavik, a mine in Northwest Territories owned 40 percent by Dominion and 60 percent by Rio Tinto. Weighing in at 552 carats, this yellow diamond is nearly triple the size of the next largest diamond recovered in North America, a 187.7 gem found at the same mine known as the Diavik Foxfire. The astonishing gemstone was uncovered while passing through the...
New gold mines are expected to drive strong economic growth in Nunavut and Yukon over the next several years, according to the latest Territorial Outlook published by The Conference Board of Canada. The non-profit think tank focused primarily on researching and analyzing economic trends, however, forecasts a shrinking economy for Northwest Territories as the diamond sector there matures. Despite a tepid recovery for the mining sector as a whole, the new mines being developed...
While mining activity remained strong in the Northwest Territories in 2019, industry and government officials alike worried that the robust sector, driven largely by production at three diamond mines, has entered a prolonged downward slide. The near-term economic outlook for the territory, which covers 1.3 million square kilometers in Canada's central Arctic region, continues to be bleak as its diamond mines that have now passed peak production and replacement projects are in...
North Arrow Minerals Inc. is exploring seven diamond projects in Canada – Naujaat, Mel and Luxx in Nunavut; Lac de Gras (LDG) and Loki in Northwest Territories; Pikoo in Saskatchewan; and Timiskaming in Ontario. Much of North Arrow's 2019 work focused on Naujaat, the company's most advanced property. In May, the company announced the start of engineering and cost analysis for a small-scale mobile diamond recovery plant to process bulk samples from Q1-4, one of at least e...
The Washington Companies, a group of privately held North American mining, industrial and transportation businesses founded by industrialist and entrepreneur Dennis Washington, acquired Dominion Diamond Corp. in a deal worth US$1.2 billion. "We look forward to owning and operating Dominion for decades to come, with a focus on maintaining safe and prosperous business operations in the Northwest Territories," said Washington. When the deal closed, Patrick Evans, who previously...
North Arrow Minerals Inc. is focused on the identification and evaluation of its seven diamond projects in Canada – Naujaat, Mel and Luxx in Nunavut; Lac de Gras and Loki in Northwest Territories; Pikoo in Saskatchewan; and Timiskaming in Ontario. In February, the company reported the recovery of 64.25 carats of commercial sized diamonds from a 209.8-metric-ton mini-bulk sample collected from the Q1-4 kimberlite at Naujaat. The three largest diamonds from the sample are 5.25,...
