Gahcho Kué Diamond Mine: The Long Road from Discovery to Production

Gahcho Kué Diamond Mine: The Long Road from Discovery to Production

Gahcho Kué Diamond Mine is located on Kennady Lake approximately 300 km east-northeast of Yellowknife in the District of Mackenzie, Northwest Territories, Canada. The project was part of a larger group of claims staked by Mountain Province in 1992. Mountain Province successfully explored the claims, discovering the 5034 kimberlite in 1995. De Beers completed a joint venture with Mountain Province in 1997 and three new kimberlites were discovered that year: Tesla, Hearne and Tuzo. From 1998-2000, six additional kimberlites were discovered: Dunn, Wagner, Wallace, MZ, Faraday and Kelvin. Evaluation sampling to determine the deposit grade and diamond value of the 3 main pipes (5034, Hearne and Tuzo) was undertaken from 1998 to 2003. In 2011, the joint venture partners approved the Gahcho Kué Feasibility Study and commenced the process to permit the mine, receiving environmental approval in 2013 and land use permits and water licenses in 2014. The mine was officially opened in September 2016 and will ramp up to full production in January 2017. 

Speaker: Nicole Januszczak

Nicole Januszczak is Targeting and Review Manager for De Beers Group of Companies in Canada where she is responsible for the targeting and delivery of new economic diamond deposits. Nicole has been with the De Beers Group of Companies since 2005. Nicole graduated with a B.Sc. in Geology from the University of Toronto. She obtained M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees at the University of Toronto studying Cenozoic glaciation of Antarctica and Neoproterozoic so-called “Snowball Earth” glaciation. Nicole is a Professional Geoscientist with the APGO. She enjoys sharing her enthusiasm and talking to students about the challenges, rewards and excitement of being an Exploration Geoscientist.