Sessions study impact of new diamond mine

Sessions on the environmental impact of the Gahcho Kue diamond project at Kennady Lake are taking place this week in Yellowknife.

The De Beers project, located about 300 kilometres northeast of Yellowknife, would be the territorys fourth diamond mine.

The goal is to remove 3 million tonnes of kimberlite ore each year from the bottom of three lakes. In order to get to the kimberlite, Kennady Lake would have to be drained.

Spokesperson Cathie Bolstad said an open pit would be easier than trying to get at the diamond-rich rock from the side.

"The kimberlite ore in which the diamonds are found for this particular mine, unlike our Snap Lake mine, are in a carrot shape down into the ground," she said.

"So to minimize the amount of waste we take out of the ground as we mine, it makes far more sense to do a circular motion around that carrot, if I can call it that, so that you can extract the carrot in pieces."

De Beers plans to control the water through dikes and ditches, re-routing the lake into other parts of the same watershed. The pits would be refilled and water would be put back in the lake after the mining finished.

"We will have a plan to work with the Department of Fisheries and with community input for how well fish out the lake, so the fish can go elsewhere when we're mining," she said.

"We'll use a number of dikes to close off the water system while were in mining operation, and then as we go into reclamation and closure, we'll be able to open those dikes up and let the natural watershed restore."

The site is expected to cover 1,200 hectares. The project would provide 700 jobs when the mine is under construction and about 370 jobs through 11 years of operation.

If approved, construction would start in two years, and the mine would be in operation by 2015.