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Dominion Cuts Output Forecast for Ekati Mine
Jul 6, 2016 3:57 AM
By Rapaport News
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RAPAPORT... Dominion Diamond Corporation lowered its production guidance
at the Ekati mine in Canada by 16 percent in the current fiscal year after it announced
a three-month shutdown following a fire.
Output is now forecast to be 4.7 million carats in the 12
months ending January 31, from an earlier target of 5.6 million carats, the
miner said.
Mining activities are continuing at the higher-value Misery
open pit and Koala underground, but have been suspended at Pigeon and Lynx.
Material from Misery and Koala will be stockpiled, with the intention of
processing a blend of the high-value Misery Main and Koala ore when the process
plant restarts. Dominion is also reducing operating costs and deferring some
capital costs during the plant downtime.
“We’ve planned mining activities to allow for the option to
prioritize higher-value ore sources on startup, thereby minimizing the impact
on the value of our fiscal-year production,” said Brendan Bell, Dominion’s
chief executive officer.
Preliminary estimates for repairs due to a blaze that broke
out in the mine’s processing plant June 23 have been pegged at about $19.2
million (CAD 25 million). The amount may change as the repair activities
progress, the company cautioned. About 330 temporary and permanent members of
staff are expected to be hit by the temporary layoff.
“Non-essential” sustaining capital projects such as the
expansion of communication and automation systems have been postponed until
fiscal 2018, the company said.
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Tags:
Canada, Dominion, Dominion Diamond Corporation, ekati, Ekati mine, mining, Rapaport News
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