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Dominion Gets Go-Ahead for Ekati Extension
Jul 7, 2016 9:44 AM
By Rapaport News
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RAPAPORT... Dominion Diamond Corporation received approval from its board to proceed with the Jay project
in Canada.
The project is “the most significant undeveloped kimberlite
pipe deposit” at the Ekati mine in the Northwest Territories and will extend its
lifespan by more than a decade, the company said. Dominion also revised the lifespan of the mine to 2033
from an earlier prediction of around 2030. This is already a ten-year
lengthening versus a forecast closure in 2020 if the new project were not to
happen.
The go-ahead follows “positive” results of a feasibility study.
Dominion previously adjusted the project’s schedule, pushing
it back by about two years.
The program, together with the Sable project at the same
mine, “will add significant value to Ekati and will enable us to pursue other
incremental growth opportunities near our existing operations,” said Brendan
Bell, Dominion’s chief executive officer.
Jay will use existing Ekati mine infrastructure and has a
total development cost of $647 million. The investment is expected to be financed
from existing cash and
internal cash flow.
Separately, Dominion said it recovered about 130,000 carats
from a production trial at Ekati’s Misery Main mine with an estimated market
price of $72 per carat. This confirms the company’s previous estimate of
diamond values for Misery, the miner said.
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Tags:
Canada, Dominion, Dominion Diamond Corporation, ekati, Ekati mine, mining, Rapaport News, Sable
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