De Beers Canada Looking Into Victor Mine Expansion

(IDEX Online News) – De Beers Canada is investigating the expansion of its Victor mine on northern Ontario’s James Bay Coast to traditional land 90 kilometers west of the Attawapiskat First Nation.

Ontario’s first diamond mine, it was officially opened in mid-2008.

The mine has an estimated five years remaining at the open pit diamond mine, and the extension plan is in an advanced exploration stage at the moment, meaning a final decision on whether to pursue the extension is still at least 18 months away, said Tom Ormsby, director of external and corporate affairs at De Beers Canada.

An environmental assessment is being carried out, and core samples will be taken to gauge the value of minerals, Canada's CBC News reported.

De Beers Canada held a community meeting in March to discuss the mine extension plan, and said it wants to maintain communication with Attawapiskat members.

“We know there’s always going to be times when we need to circle back and say ‘let’s go over this piece again, let’s understand the timelines,’” said Ormsby. “But our experience over the last 25 years is that the community has been generally supportive, even though they have other challenges in their lives.”

Ormsby said the company wants to determine the feasibility of the extension project, before holding more community consultations.

“The community understands there’s still more work to be done before we can get into deeper conversations, because this may not work, and conversations would then be moot,” he said.

The proposed Victor mine extension could be the first of many in the region for De Beers. The company says the kimberlite pipes that run through the diamond fields could carry more mining potential, and if the Victor mine extension project is successful, there are other smaller pit mines that could be opened.

“If it all works out [with the extension project], then we have much more confidence that some of the other pipes in that cluster might be able to follow suit,” Ormsby added.