Diavik shifts production to higher-grade pipes

by jacquie_dealmeida | November 29, 2012 9:00 am

Diavik winter aerial cropped 0030 — Underground mining at Diavik’s A-154 yielded processing of higher-grade pipes. Photo courtesy Rio Tinto Diamonds.

Harry Winston Diamond Corp., says production at the Diavik mine during the third quarter remained flat, although it processed 19 per cent less ore than it did during the same period last year.

The company—which owns 40 per cent of the mine with Rio Tinto—reported 1.93 million carats from 0.52 million tonnes of ore processed, down from 0.64 million tonnes year over year.

Harry Winston says the decline was due to a production shift from the lower-grade, lower-value A-418 open pit to underground mining of the A-154 pipes. By the end of the year, Diavik is expected to produce about 7.4 million carats from the mining of two million tonnes of ore and processing of 2.2 million tonnes of ore. Stabilization in the rough diamond market through the third quarter is helping to improve demand, the company says.

Based on prices from Harry Winston’s rough diamond sales during the quarter, as well as the current diamond recovery profile of the Diavik processing plant, the company says it expects rough from the A-154 south pipe, the A-154 north pipe, and the A-418 pipe to sell for $135 per carat, $170 per carat, and $95 per carat, respectively.

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