De Beers puts shuttered Snap Lake diamond mine up for sale

De Beers is putting the N.W.T.'s Snap Lake diamond mine up for sale.

The company began suspending operations at theunprofitable mine, located 220kilometresnortheast of Yellowknife, inDecember.

Since thenit's been planning to flood the underground workings of the mineto cut down on costs. That flooding is set to begin by October or November.

"Before it gets flooded, if anyone has that interest, now's the time to raise your hand," said Tom Ormsby, a spokesperson for De Beers Canada.

• Flooding Snap Lake diamond mine could take more than a year, says De Beers
• N.W.T. braces for economic sting of Snap Lake mine shutdown

The company is open to selling the mine after flooding begins, but whoever buys it would have to shoulder the extra cost of dewatering the underground tunnels.

Still lots of diamonds left

Ormsbysays Snap Lake still has 20 to 30 million carats in the ground enough to sustain production for 12 years.

"We still think there's a future for that ore body," he said.

But today's announcement strongly suggests De Beers itself is not interested.

In December, the company said it would revisit the idea of reopening the mine within a year.

Ormsby said that economic evaluation remains ongoing, but added, "There's always been the understanding that [selling]is one of the options that has been on the table for a long time asa possible future for Snap Lake."

De Beers' second N.W.T. diamond mine, Gahcho Kue, is still expected to open later this year.

As of March, 96 former Snap Lake workers had been transferredto Gahcho Kue, which is currently in the final stages of commissioning.