Diamond mine ice road expected to have record year

It's going to be a busy year for the Tibbitt to Contwoyto ice road, the vital supply road toN.W.T.'s three diamond mines.

Starting today, about 335,000 metric tonnes of supplies are expected to be delivered to operating mines, construction sites and exploration camps in the Slave Geologic Provincethis year potentially the largest load count for northbound trucks in the road's history.

About 9,500 trucks are expected the carry those loads the second-highest number of trucks ever, if realized.

Ron Near, who overseas the construction and maintenance of the 400-kilometre ice road for the owners of the diamond mines, says this year's uptick is due to the construction of De Beers' Gahcho Kue diamond mine. Themine, which will cost more than $650 million, is expected to open in the third quarter of 2016.

"Any time we have construction of a new mine, the load count will always bulk up," says Near.

In 2007, when De Beers' first N.W.T. diamond mine, Snap Lake, was under construction, the road saw a record 10,922 northbound truckloads.

Near says the higher the load counts, the more jobs the road creates during its one month of constructionand two months of operation.

"The carrier companies, because of the additional load counts, have to hire more people to work at their quarries for loading and offloading, as well as management from the Yellowknife end," he says.

"And the mines have to make sure they have enough people offloading the trucks at themines once they arrive there."

The cost of the ice road which ranges from $16 million to $20 million is shared by Dominion Diamond Corporation, Rio Tinto and De Beers, says Near.

But hesays those companies save 10 times that by not having to fly in supplies to the remote mines.