Gahcho Kué diamond mine surpasses spend threshold with NWT and Indigenous businesses

Marilyn Scales - Canadian Mining Journal | June 26, 2024 | 11:11 am News Canada Diamond 
Naturally fluorescing rough diamond parcel from the Gahcho Kué mine. Credit: Mountain Province Diamonds

De Beers Group and Mountain Province Diamonds (TSX: MPVD; NASDAQ: MDM) announced that their joint venture Gahcho Kué diamond mine has surpassed the C$2 billion spending threshold with Northwest Territories and Indigenous business.

The milestone represents 61% of the total C$3.2 billion spent on the project since 2015 when construction began. Local businesses supply welding, transportation logistics, trucking, passenger and cargo flights, labour, and camp catering. The venture has a stated goal of sourcing at least 60% of its requirements for the project from local businesses.

According to the NWT Bureau of Statistics, diamond mining is the largest contributor to the territory’s gross domestic product – C$588 million out of C$4.25 billion in 2023.

Key elements of the economic contribution of the Gahcho Kué mine include:

  • Gahcho Kué has a tiered contracting structure that gives preference to Indigenous and NWT businesses.
  • Since 2006, C$5.3 billion has been spent with local and Indigenous business in the Northwest Territories and northern Ontario by Gahcho Kué and De Beers Group’s wholly owned Snap Lake (NWT) and Victor (Ontario) mines. (Snap Lake and Victor are now in active closure).
  • In 2023, 69% of the Gahcho Kué mine spend was with NWT and Indigenous companies, totalling C$228 million, the highest amount spent with NWT businesses since construction.
  • In 2023, C$90 million was spent with companies operated by the mine’s impact benefit agreement (IBA) communities.
  • From 2006 to 2023, Gahcho Kué and Snap Lake mines have contributed a combined C$26.5 million in social investment within the NWT.
  • Gahcho Kué has also made significant payments to Indigenous communities in terms of six IBAs and has paid resource royalties to the government of the NWT.

Gahcho Kué was officially opened in 2016 and now provides 663 full-time equivalent jobs, including 245 jobs held by NWT residents.

The mine is located about 280 km northeast of Yellowknife, NWT, on the traditional territories of Tlicho, Dene and Metis peoples. De Beers is the 51% owner and operator. Mountain Province retains the remaining 49%.

In 2023 the project mined 3.3 million tonnes of kimberlite and recovered nearly 5.6 million carats (on a 100% basis). Guidance for 2024 is 4.2 million to 4.7 million carats.

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