While Fenix meets the environmental regulations and requirements, it didn’t provide enough information on how it aims to eliminate the “adverse impacts” that the project will have on the area’s wildlife species.

"The commodity world’s flagship is under fire,” one analyst said.

De Beers sold $650m of diamonds, slightly up from $604m at the previous sale this year, but higher than the $477m this time in 2021.

For many years, it was the flagship mine of Hudbay’s Manitoba operations.

Mining stocks also slid, with BHP Group down almost 10% from the previous week, Glencore down 8%, and Freeport-McMoRan down 16%.

Given the transition of operations activities to an interim development focused plan, the company says additional financing will be required.