Mixed feelings over diamond mine closure

Mixed feelings over diamond mine closure Ontario’s first and only diamond mine marked its 10th anniversary as it prepares to close. Kyle Gennings reports.

Original:

De Beers Victor Diamond Mine celebrated a bittersweet moment this week as the operation near Attawapiskat marked ten years and the imminent closure of the facility.

The mine opened in 2008 and has produced 7.2-million carats of diamonds.

Executives and dignitaries were invited to the site Wednesday to mark the occasion and tour the open pit.

While most mining companies quietly wind down existing operations, De Beers Canada wanted to celebrate Victor Mine and its safety record and what the company calls revolutionary thinking that changed the industry.

Kim Trutor is the Chief Executive Officer of Debeers Canada.

"When you can create a successful mine, it is important to acknowledge everything that happened and to celebrate that for the employees. And also for the community, and for the regulators, and the government, it's really, really important to acknowledge. It's a huge, huge testament to people's ingenuity." said Trutor.

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Lake after lake, surrounded by bottomless muskeg and an infinite horizon, the James Bay lowlands provide a unique vista to the untrained eye, but it is diamond country and the home to De Beers Canada's Victor Mine.

Tom Ormsby is the head of external and corporate affairs for De Beers Canada.

"This mine has done an awful lot in its ten years and the accomplishments are many." said Ormsby.

The open pit mine has produced over 7-million carats of diamonds pulled from 21-million tonnes of ore over the past decade, but eight months from now, trucks will stop hauling.

Victor Diamond MineStill, the company is proud of what's been accomplished.

"The mine also beat its feasibility, you know, so we're actually producing more than we forecasted when they designed the mine. So, you know, we said, sure, closure is coming, but it's worth taking the time." said Ormsby.

Despite the end being on the horizon, the mine celebrated ten years in style with tours, speeches, and a visit from the company's national Chief Executive Officer, Kim Trutor.

"It's really, really important to acknowledge it's a huge testament to people's ingenuity." said Trutor.

Miles from the nearest community, people who work at the mine need to know how to do more with less. The property is peppered with spare parts, each building a testament to streamlined efficiency.

But that isolation has created a tight knit family.

"I think the remoteness of the mine has certainly contributed a lot, because people do spend so much time together." said Ormsby.

As employee after employee told stories of life at Victor Mine, work now turns to land reclamation with thousands of saplings ready to be planted.

De Beers hopes to reclaim a third of its footprint by the end of the year.

Chris Hodgson is the President of the Ontario Mining Association.

"Their environmental record has been outstanding. They've actually not only done well for themselves, but they've actually helped the whole Ontario mining industry. Their reclamation has been the focus of symposiums." said Hodgson.

The company defines the Victor Mine as an example for the future of mining and community partnership, 33% of staff comes from the nearby Attawapiskat First Nation.

Another community’s economy that will also feel the blow from the closure will be the City of Timmins, as it is a supplier.

But the city’s mayor, Steve Black, says he hopes the skills learned by the workforce will be transferrable

"The operation has been a unique opportunity for the far north to gain some skills and development and hopefully able to transfer those to future employment as well." said Black.

The Victor Mine operation surrounds only one of 18 deposits in the region.

Although the company won't say what the future holds, it will say it's not walking away forever.