Page 35 Contd from pg 34 tinue to shape the future of the V ictor Mine and the communities in which we operate The environmental assessment pro cess is anticipated to take approxi mately two years and will run in par allel with community consultation further baselin e environmen tal stud ies engineering and evaluation of the T ango Extension resource If those activities prove favourable and are successfully concluded early in 2016 then De Beers will request development approval from our board of directors The tar get date to begin processing ore from T ango Extension kimberlite is in 2018 as the V ictor ore body is forecast to be exhausted by that time De Beers Group is a membe r of the Anglo American plc group Estab lished in 1888 De Beers is the world s leading diamond company with unri valled expertise in the exploration mining and marketing of diamonds T ogether with its joint venture part ners De Beers employs approximate ly 16000 people across the diamond pipeline and is the world s lar gest di amond producer by value with min ing operations in Botswana Canada Namibia and South Africa In Canada De Beers operates the Snap Lake Mine in the Northwest T erritories and the V ictor Mine De Beers is also a joint venture partner in the Gahcho Kue Project in the North west T erritories V ictor is one of 16 diamondbearing kimberlite pipes in the immediate vicinity of the V ictor site and is cur rently producing some of the most remarkable rough diamonds in the world All of the previously identifed pipes in the cluster are within a 25 km radius of the V ictor site Since the opening of the V ictor De Beers Canada exploration ef forts have been focused around extending the resource reserves at the mine This work is often carried out in the winter months when moving around the tar get areas is easier for the team Programs involve a variety of assess ment techniques including core sam pling lar ge diameter drilling and bulk samples Current analysis indicates these satellite pipes are all smaller than the current V ictor pipe which has 27 million tonnes of ore and a forecast 12year lifeofmine T o support the extension program the V ictor has undertaken a Cost Opti mization Initia tive to lower the day today operati ng cost of the mine enhancing the economics of these po tential resources If the resources prove out it would extend the life of mine and continue to provide substantial economic ben eft for the surrounding communities T ango one of 16 kimberlite sites Sudbury Br anch 9 0 Red Deer Lake Road North W ahnapit ae Ont ario P0M 3C0 T 7 0 56 9 459 59