Page 34 Contd on pg 35 Indu s try L e ading T urna r ound Time E xpert Geochemi s try Support Expert Client Services S t r ong T echnical P artnerships in Chemi s try and M e ta l lu r gy C o r eVi e w er T echnology Be s t in the Busine s s F or mo r e i n f orm a tion scan this QR c ode or visit ww w alsglobal c om Phone 1 7055607225 By Gregory Reynolds De Beers Canada is planning to have in operation a replacement mine for the V ict or by 2018 the year Ontario s frst diamond mine is slated to be ex hausted De Beers has announced that the company is initiating a formal envi ronmental assessment process for the potential development of the T ango Extension kimberlite deposit at the V ictor Mine The De Beers V ictor Mine is located approximately 90 km west of the At tawapiskat First Nation in the James Bay Lowlands of Northern Ontario The T ango Extension kimberlite de posit is locate d seven km northwest of the V ictor Subject to the decision of the federal minister of the environ ment De Beers proposes to conduct a comprehensive environmental as sessment under the recently updated Canadian Environmental Assessment Act CEAA 2012 with extensive participation by Ontario government agencies The company said in an April 24 news release that it had held preconsulta tion with the Canadian Environmen tal Assessment Agency CEAA the Government of Ontario and First Na tions communities in the area The V ictor Ontario s frst and only diamond mine located 500 km north of T immins produces diamonds of remarkable colour clarity and con sistency which has driven the devel opment of a worldclass facility in Northern Ontario It is a year round openpit operation employi ng 420 people Access is by winter road from Moosonee via Attawapiskat and by aircraft to the mine site runway Employees work on a rotatio nal fy in fyout basis Production in 2012 amounted to 688794 carats of dia monds from 3048807 tonnes of pro cessed kimberlite Diamond grade was 0226 carats per tonne and the mill operated at a rate of 8353 tonnes per day and achieved a recovery of 97 The company also said the mine has injected billion s of dollars in GDP into local and provincial economies since the offcial opening in July 2008 The V ictor is a small ore body however and is nearly halfway through its pro jected lifespan After several years of analysi s of oth er diamondbearing kimberlites in the V ictor cluster the T ango Extension kimberlite while smaller and of lower grade than V ictor currently of fers the best potential to extend the life of the mining operati on and the related eco nomic benefts to local communities While the company continues to ana lyze the economic potential of the T ango Extension kimberlite De Beers will be actively seeking public input into and support for the environmen tal assessment process that will con De Beers aims to have V ictor s r eplacement operating in 2018