The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Sitewide testing finds four mild cases at NWT diamond mine North of 60 Mining News - December 29, 2021
Following a 22-day shutdown and winter restart of operations due to a February outbreak of COVID at Gahcho Kué, the mine owners launched an initiative to better prepare for staffing challenges at this diamond operation in Northwest Territories.
With a new outbreak of COVID-19 cases, the ongoing coronavirus pandemic continues to be a challenge for the Gahcho Kué diamond mine in Canada's Northwest Territories.
When it comes to the mining sector, diamond producers were particularly hard hit by the pandemic, which has now endured for nearly two years. In addition to the COVID-19 restrictions and protocols that challenged all businesses, diamond miners faced the closure of diamond trading floors that cut off traditional sales venues and resulted in lowered prices for the precious stones.
About the time these markets were improving, Gahcho Kué was struck with another setback –an unplanned 22-day shutdown related to a February 2021 COVID-19 outbreak at the Northwest Territories mine.
This created a situation where the mine owners – De Beers Canada Inc. (51%) and Mountain Province Diamonds Inc. (49%) – had to ramp up production during the depths of the arctic winter.
Lower-than-expected equipment availability, a higher-than-average number of extreme weather events in Canada's North, and manpower availability issues made the restart at Gahcho Kué problematic and resulted in reduced diamond production during the first three months of 2021.
This production halting COVID outbreak at Gahcho Kué prompted the mine owners to launch initiatives that would make the operations better prepared for potential staffing challenges moving forward, including a recruitment drive for relief equipment operators.
Depending on the severity of the current outbreak, these preparatory measures may come into play. Mountain Province is confident that this event will not be as widespread as in February.
First off, while the Office of the Chief Public Health Officer in the Northwest Territories has declared an outbreak at Gahcho Kué, there have only been four confirmed cases out of the roughly 500 people that work at the mine. Three of the confirmed cases are mild cold-like symptoms.
Secondly, the entire workforce at Gahcho Kué is fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
Sitewide testing was carried out at the diamond mine on Dec. 26. All other mine personnel, including eight close contacts to the confirmed cases, tested negative.
"The team on site has done a fantastic job in sustaining operations through a pandemic that has impacted all of our lives," said Mountain Province Diamonds President and CEO Mark Wall. "We are very fortunate to have De Beers and Anglo American as our joint venture partner and operator, with our shared focus on employee safety and operational continuity."
To further ensure this safety and continuity during the rapid spread of the Omicron variant in Canada, Gahcho Kué management has implemented heightened preventative measures that go over-and-above the baseline stringent safety measures at the mine.
"It is important that we continue the strenuous controls in place to protect both our people and the communities of the Northwest Territories," Wall added.
Over his more than 16 years of covering mining and mineral exploration, Shane has become renowned for his ability to report on the sector in a way that is technically sound enough to inform industry insiders while being easy to understand by a wider audience.
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