Subsidence Halts Production at a Diavik Pit
July 10, 24
(IDEX Online) - Production has been halted at one of the two pits at Diavik, Canada's biggest diamond mine, amid safety concerns over subsidence.
Owners Rio Tinto say an area of unstable ground was detected on an access road to the mine's A154 pit last Thursday evening (4 July) and work was suspended.
"All employees are safe, but as a precautionary measure, operations underground have been temporarily suspended in the A154 pit until we have a better understanding of the cause of this event," a spokesperson for the mine told local news outlet Cabin Radio.
Diavik has produced over 100m carats since commercial production started in 2003. It is due to close in 2026.
In January Rio Tinto, 100 per cent owners of the deposit, announced a 50 per cent drop in its Q4 diamond production, down from 1.3m carats to 659,00 carats. Production for FY 2023 was 3.34m carats, down 28 per cent on 2022 but still within the company's 3.0m carats to 3.8m carats guidance.
Pic courtesy Rio Tinto.