Snap Lake Mine Enters Final Stages of Closure

De Beers’ Snap Lake diamond mine, Canada's first fully underground mine located in the Northwest Territory, is “entering the final stages of active closure” ahead of a switch to long-term monitoring. This will represent the final stages of shut down since it was decided by the company to cease operations in 2015.

In a press release earlier this week De Beers stated: “All of the mine’s infrastructure will be removed by the end of this year, and the site will be readied for targeted revegetation in 2024, followed by long-term monitoring.” De Beers said a final closure and reclamation plan for Snap Lake received regulatory approval in December last year and the company will be “finalizing the remaining closure criteria in the next few months.”

In 2021, Met/Nuna – a joint venture between Nuna Logistics and Métcor, the economic development arm of the North Slave Métis Alliance – was awarded a contract worth $110 million over three years to perform closure work at Snap Lake.
De Beers’ lone operational diamond mine in the NWT is now Gahcho Kué, which opened in 2016.

Photo Credit: Ledcor Group