Rio Tinto to Help 1,100 Workers when Diavik Closes
April 28, 22
(IDEX Online) - Plans to close Canada's Diavik mine in 2025 will have a significant impact on the local economy, owners Rio Tinto warned this week.
The deposit (pictured), 300 km northeast of Yellowknife, is one of the largest employers in Northwestern Territories, providing 1,100 jobs, and contributing almost 10 per cent of its GDP.
However, Rio Tinto says it will helps workers redeploy within the company or find jobs elsewhere.
"We're not just walking away and leaving people with no prospects or just leaving the job market to kind-of pick up for the slack as we ramp down," said Diavik's Cherish Winsor, as reported by the Cabin Radio news website. "We want to make sure that people are gainfully employed."
Diavik opened in 2003 and produced 6.2 million carats of rough diamonds in 2020. Rio Tinto said last November that it had acquired all remaining Diavik assets held by Dominion Diamond Mines, which went into administration last April.
The two companies had been locked in a legal battle over the mine's operating costs and production targets. Rio Tinto had previously said it was not interested in acquitting any part of Dominion.