96 Snap Lake mine workers transferred to Gahcho Ku project

De Beers Canada says 96 former Snap Lake mine employees have now been transferred to the company's next N.W.T. diamond mine, Gahcho Ku.

About 40 of those people, including two managers, live in the Northwest Territories, according to De Beers.

Tom Ormsby, a spokesperson for the company, saidmore Gahcho Ku jobs will open up to former Snap Lake employees in the months leading up to Gahcho Ku's opening later this year.

"As construction winds down throughout the next several months, and the commissioning gets completed and we get ready to start feeding ore into the plant, there will be a requirement for other positions," he said.

The company announced in December it was closing the unprofitable Snap Lake mine and cutting 434 direct De Beers jobs in the process. At the time it said about 100 workers would be transferred to Gahcho Ku.

Ormsby saidworkers are almost done suspending operations at Snap Lake, paving the way for the site's continued care and maintenance. That phase will still require 63 workers.

De Beers' review of whether to restart production at Snap Lake remains "ongoing," said Ormsby.